Unsteady
by MissyMo2005
Summary: An alternative take on series three including Molly. Molly and Charles have history but didn't exactly hit it off...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

There had been a moment when he'd first seen Georgie sitting there waiting for her lift to the barracks that he'd contemplated sending her straight back home. There was something about the look on her face that reminded him of the look he'd seen at Elvis' funeral as her Mum had held her. The same look of grief she'd worn as he'd pulled her away from Elvis. The same look that had haunted him ever since.

No one had been expecting her to come back. He'd had to ask Major Beck to repeat himself twice because he literally couldn't hear the words he was saying. He'd assumed the same as everyone else- there was no way she could come back from that. But there she was, sitting right in front of him and for a moment it was as though he could pretend none of it had ever happened. Just for a second anyway.

The second she'd spotted him her face had changed, a smile taking the place of the frown she'd worn a moment earlier. She'd jumped to her feet as he'd climbed out of the land rover to greet her, grabbing her bag from the floor. "Alright Lane?" There were hundreds of things he wanted to say, things he'd been wanting to tell her since the funeral where he hadn't been able to find the words. But they were at work and this wasn't the time.

"I never normally get a royal welcome." She teased as she walked towards him.

"Are you calling me royal Lane?" He laughed. She'd taken him by surprise once again. Maybe she was okay after all?

"If the cap fits." She shrugged, swinging her bergen off her back.

He took it from her and threw it into the back of the land rover. "I know I'm posh Lane, but not that posh." He gestured for her to climb in before following her. "How was the flight?"

"Alright."

The conversation had come to a rather uncomfortable end after that. The only sound, the land rover bumping down the rough dirt roads. He'd quickly realised that six months might have passed but he still hadn't got a clue what to say to her. Instead he found himself stealing glances at her out of the corner of his eye and trying to work out what was going on in her head. It was impossible- Elvis had been right, she always did have a good poker face.

"You ready for another tour?" He'd asked eventually, the need to fill the silence somehow overwhelming him.

She rolled her eyes at him, the faintest hint of a smile crossing her lips. "Six months on regimental duties in Preston is enough to cure anyone from anything."

He laughed for a second before the weight of her words sank in a little. "Did you need curing?"

There was another awkward pause and he wondered if he'd crossed the line. "Maybe I needed time to heal?" She offered eventually.

He looked down at his worn combat boots to avoid her eye, not knowing what to say.

"You are allowed to say the Elvis word." She added when he didn't say anything.

He winced. Truth be told his reluctance to talk about it had as much to do with him not wanting to talk about it as not wanting to upset her. "Yeah." He mumbled. "Seeing you at his funeral was…"

"Did I make a tit of myself?" She joked, trying to deflect the conversation from the direction it was headed in. She'd had this conversation a hundred times and the last thing she wanted was to go over it all again.

He shook his head. "Of course you didn't make a tit out of yourself."

"Mum said I was howling." She sighed. "I just felt so…. Hollow. Y'know? I can't even remember the funeral."

"Yeah." He agreed. "I know."

She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "But anyway… I'm back. And I won't let you down."

He smiled, handing her the information he'd brought for her.

She took it from him and read it out loud. "Training and mentoring a section of nigerians…. Working in a medical outreach project."

"Towards the Boko Haram territories." He added. Written on paper it all sounded so straight forward. He was keeping his fingers crossed that was going to turn out to be true.

"What could possibly go wrong?" She laughed.

He found himself laughing with her, and for a moment it was like she'd never been gone. "It's really good to have you back Lane."

"It's good to be back."

* * *

He'd spent the morning watching Kingy putting the nigerians through different training exercises, trying not to get too frustrated as he watched them all make the same mistakes time and time again despite what Kingy was telling them. It was frustrating as hell to watch through the tv screens and he was beginning to wonder quite how Kingy was managing to stay so calm with all of them. He knew without a doubt he would've lost his patience by now if they'd been the other way round.

There was a collective sigh from the group standing in the room as they watched yet another person shoot at the innocent civilian. He shook his head slightly, walking back up towards the screens at the front of the room. "You do not shoot until you are certain." He repeated for what felt like the thousandth time.

"Yeah, it's a waste of bullets if not." Monk cut in.

He shot him a glare that quickly shut him up. "It's a waste of an innocent person's life." He corrected. "And a waste of your own life too, because let me tell you if you kill an innocent person it's going to haunt you forever."

He watched for a moment as silence descended over the room. "Go on then Brains, you're up next." He nodded. He turned back to the screens in front of them but found his mind wandering to Lane as he watched Kingy and Brains swap places. He'd left her to go and get herself settled in but he was beginning to wish he'd insisted she come with him. At least then he'd be able to keep an eye on her. He owed it to Elvis to make sure she was okay.

* * *

She was sitting on the edge of her bunk staring at the peeling paint on the walls when she heard them, or rather heard fingers as he fell over the end of one of the beds and ruined any attempt they'd had at sneaking up on her. The second she got to her feet they swept her up in a group hug and for a moment she felt the tears threatening to fall again. They had well and truly become a part of her family and she really had missed them all.

"Alright, alright… get off, you're going to crease my uniform!" She scolded them jokingly.

"It's always creased." Fingers shot back.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Shut it you."

"It's really good to have you back." Monk smiled.

"Where's Brains?" She asked, changing the subject as she glanced around and realised he was missing.

"Don't ask." Fingers rolled his eyes. "He's being a right sulky sue."

She didn't get the chance to ask what that meant as Kingy walked in. "It's good to have you back Lane." He smiled.

"Good to be back."

"Good… Well, you can unpack you kit and head to the med centre because you're the medic on duty."

"Oh joy." She rolled her eyes. Straight back to normality it seemed.

"The rest of you- obstacle course fifteen minutes." Kingy called back over his shoulder as he left the room.

* * *

"Right you lot." He shouted, standing at the edge of the obstacle course and looking at the men in front of him. Each member of two section had been partnered up with a soldier from the nigerian army. "One full circuit of the course with a sprint to the finish line. The first pair back are obviously the winners…. And for the losers its an eight mile run in full kit so I'd say it's worth your while to make sure you don't leave your partner behind on this one… Understood?"

He watched as Brains turned around, giving some kind of instructions to his partner. They were apparently the only ones taking this seriously.

"Now remember, this is about teamwork!" Kingy shouted. "There is no I in wanker!"

He watched as Monk and Fingers laughed with Rab, whatever it was they were saying Brains obviously wasn't finding it funny but he didn't think anything of it. Afterall it was hardly the first time one of them had said something that crossed a line and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Instead he just blew his whistle to send them off before anyone had a chance to say anything else stupid.

He stood and watched, his hand shielding his eyes from the sun as they raced around the course. Brains and Rab were pretty evenly matched almost stride for stride and the pair of nigerian soldiers behind them weren't much different. It was going to be a close race. Or at least it looked like it was going to up until the point where Brains abandoned his partner at the rope swing and went racing off on his own. "What the hell has got in to him?" He didn't realise he'd said it outloud until Kingy answered him.

"I haven't got a clue." Kingy shrugged.

Neither of them had a chance to dwell on it, their attention diverted by the sprint finish between Rab and Brains that was happening right in front of them. "Ooh, it's going to be close." He found himself holding his breath as Brains crossed the finish line half a step in front of Rab, only for his partner to be a couple of seconds behind Rab's.

"Condolences and everything, but the best team won." Rab teased, taking a bow. "Now that's eight miles, full kit and don't forget to pack your bruised ego!"

"Ungentlemanly conduct Kalil!" Charles called, trying to hide the smile on his face. "And for that, you can join him on the run."

"How's that fair?" Rab argued.

"And technically I beat the jumped up yorkshire gobshite anyway." Brains jabbed a finger in Rab's direction.

"Allright Brains, that's enough." Kingy warned.

"If only he had enough brains." Rab quipped.

"I've got more brains than you'll ever have." Brains spat, taking a step closer to Rab.

It clicked in Charles' head where this was going to end up a couple of seconds too late to stop it. He found himself running after Kingy to split the two of them up as Brains took a swing at Rab. Kingy grabbed hold of Brains and hauled him away before he got there. "The pair of you, that is enough." He growled. "I don't know what is going on here but you will sort your shit out- understood?"

"Yes boss." They both muttered.

"One more little outburst like this and you can square your kit away and spend the rest of your days digging holes for the council. Now get out of my sight." He snapped.

* * *

He'd meant to go and find Lane and ask her to have a word with Brains but if he was honest he'd got caught up in other things and forgotten all about it while he was preparing for their briefing. It was only when he'd seen him sitting next to Lane as he stood at the front about to start the briefing he remembered.

"Right." He started, putting it to the back of his mind again for the moment. "You've all had a chance to study the brief by now. We'll be escorting the nigerian army up into the north of the country towards Boko Haram territory. We're delivering and dispensing medical supplies. Lane will be supervising inoculations. This is mainly a training and mentoring exercise with the added benefit of providing reassurance to the locals that they've not been forgotten about. Our final destination is approximately 800 kilometers north of Lagos, now it was this area where the school girls were taken from. It's only about three or four kilometers from the outreach project we're going to so remember to stay alert."

"Yes Boss." They all nodded, turning their attention to the map they were being shown on the screen behind them.

* * *

He would've declared Nigeria a bit of a shithole- mainly on the basis of it being swelteringly hot the entire time and the seemingly pointless nature of their task- but that would've meant listening to another lecture from Kingy on his heritage and why he wasn't allowed to say that. So he'd kept his mouth shut and carried on staring out of the window as Richards slowly drove them to their destination. She was wittering away about some crap he didn't care about, he nodded every now and then wondering why she was still talking. Surely she had to know he wasn't actually listening to her?

"Can you imagine having kids and bringing them up here?" He tuned back in just as Richards glanced over at him.

He nodded slowly, despite everything the thought of Sam being in a place like this made him feel sick. "You'd just want to scoop them up and take them somewhere safe, wouldn't you?" He agreed.

"Hang on a minute." He could almost see the light bulb go on above Richards' head as she spoke. "You're not sprogged up are you Boss?"

He'd been keeping deliberately quiet about his family. Questions about Sam would lead to questions about Rebecca and that certainly wasn't something he wanted to be getting into with Richards of all people. "Yes, I've got a little boy." He nodded.

"So there is a Mrs James then?" Richards asked cheekily.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Eyes on the road driver."

"Alright then." She muttered, but much to his relief kept her mouth shut. Maybe she was finally learning something after all.

He could hear the rest of two section chatting in the back of the truck. Much to his relief Georgie seemed to have slotted straight back in with everyone more or less as if nothing had ever happened. It was bittersweet. He'd been worried when he'd seen Georgie at the funeral that she might never be the same again after what had happened with Elvis. On the other hand it seemed more than a little wrong that they were all carrying on with life as normal after what had happened. He'd ended up making a resolution not to think about it. It was the only way to stop it eating him alive.

"Nearly there Boss." Richards pointed at the road sign ahead of them.

He nodded in acknowledgement. That familiar feeling of anxiety had returned to the pit of his stomach. There had been a suicide bombing in the town they were headed to, right in the middle of a packed market, dozens had been killed. It was just another little reminder that it might be a humanitarian mission but it was never going to be safe. Something else for him to worry about, trying to make sure no one did anything stupid and they all got home in one piece.

* * *

"It doesn't look like too much of a hotbed of hatred to me." Monk commented as they walked into the marketplace.

Georgie couldn't help but agree with him. If she hadn't been told in advance what had happened there she never would've had a clue. She turned to the young nigerian medic beside her. "So you were the first medic at the scene?"She asked him.

"In the market? Yes Ma'am." He nodded.

"You don't have to call me Ma'am. It's Georgie." She smiled.

"I'm Adewole." He nodded. "I just had basic supplies and tried to keep them alive until help came but… The suicide bomber was a young girl. They don't arouse suspicion. She walked right up to a stall, through all the crowds saying she was looking for her mother."

"It doesn't make sense to us, does it?" Richards chimed in from behind them.

"It doesn't make sense to anyone." Georgie sighed.

"They get brainwashed into thinking they're doing something good." He explained. "Seventeen people died. I did my best but…. There was bodies everywhere and I had no medical supplies."

"The nigerian army are lucky to have you." Georgie smiled kindly. "Are you okay?" She asked, watching as he slowed a little as they approached the marketplace.

"It's the first time I've been back here." He admitted.

"Yeah I know." She sighed. "That's the worst part. Once you've seen something, you can't unsee it."

"Your colleagues have told me, some of the things you have seen."

She hesitated for a moment, the images of Elvis lying there on the floor flashing to the front of her mind again. "The thing is you've just gotta keep going and do what you can."

They were walking through the middle of the market when the red four wheel drive came racing through the middle of the crowd, music blaring and came screeching to a halt. The second it came to a stop the drivers door swung open and much to Georgie's surprise a small dark haired woman jumped out of the driver's seat, a man getting out of the passenger's seat to join her.

"Come on, get off. Get out of here." The woman shouted at the kids that had swarmed around the car. Georgie stood and watched as she took three bottles of water handed to her by one of the locals, throwing one to the man who was stood beside her and passing one through the back window to their passenger.

They spoke for a moment, then Georgie watched in horror as the woman went flying around to the back of the jeep and grabbed a little boy by the back of his t-shirt to haul him off the car. "If I catch you doing that again I'll-" She threatened as she deposited him roughly on the ground. The east end accent sounded weirdly out of place in these surroundings.

"Oi!" Georgie was halfway across the road towards them before her brain had engaged. "What do you think you're playing at?"

"Why don't you run along sweetheart?" The woman squared up to her as she approached, the man she was with standing close behind her as they both glared at Georgie. "Wouldn't want you to break a nail."

"Yeah I would if I were you." He chipped in. "Because you're going to look pretty fucking stupid trying to put your makeup on with a broken arm."

Georgie turned her attention towards him for a second. "If you were a man I'd beat the shit out of you."

"Oh really?" The woman laughed. "Then why don't you fucking try it on me?"

"Corporal Lane." Charles arrived beside her before she could say anything else. "Step away, now." He lingered for just a second, looking at the two people stood in front of him carefully.

Georgie somewhat reluctantly did as she was told, watching as the two of them sauntered back to their car with a satisfied smirk on their faces.

"You alright?" Charles asked as the jeep roared into the distance again.

"Fine." She brushed off his concern, her eyes following the trail of dust the car left in its wake.

He lingered for a second. "Okay, back to work then. Don't go starting any more fights."

"Yes boss." She nodded.

* * *

It was late that evening when she found herself lingering outside his tent. The FOB was quiet, most of the lads had gone for an early night. She'd not been able to get to sleep and had been on her way back to get another bottle of water when she saw his light was still on. She stood outside for a couple of minutes trying to decide if she was brave enough to go in and talk to him or not.

"Knock knock." She called, eventually plucking up the courage.

"Who's there?" He answered. There was an edge of suspicion to his voice.

"Lane?" She answered, a little confused. Could he not hear it was her?

"Lane who?"

She had to stifle her laughter when she realised what was going on, ducking into the tent. "It wasn't supposed to be a joke… I just… Well, you can't knock on a tent can you?"

He looked flustered for a second. "Right. Well what can I do for you Lane?"

She froze slightly under his scrutinizing gaze. "Water run." She said slowly, putting the bottle of water down on his desk. She was going to have to double back and get herself another one now but she felt like she needed an excuse to be there.

"Okay… Well, thanks." He smiled, looking up from his desk again when she still made no attempt to leave. "What is it?"

"Okay look." She started hesitantly. "Shouldn't we be doing more? Even if we only saved half a dozen school girls at least-"

He cut in. "No, Georgie. Good night." He should've seen this conversation coming really, he'd worked with her long enough to know she'd never just be able to leave it.

"We are failing in our duty if we don't at least try and protect them." She argued.

The look that crossed her face stopped him in his tracks. "Everything okay Lane?"

"Fine." She snapped. They both knew it wasn't true. "Why shouldn't it be?"

"Well…" He sighed, searching for the words. "Maybe you needed some more time after all?"

"Sitting in Preston isn't going to change anything."

He ran his fingers through his hair, pausing for a moment. "I realise that, but at least in Preston you can't do anything stupid. What I don't need is you out here on tour getting het up about things."

"So me thinking it's wrong that these girls are being taken is me getting het up is it?" She shot back at him. "Excuse me for actually giving a shit."

"Are you finished?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes boss." She sighed.

"Look, you're doing great work out here. Like today with the kids in the village."

"Thanks." She mumbled.

"Just a shame you nearly decked those dicks in the jeep." He joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"I think it's a shame you stopped me."

* * *

The way she'd sprung into action after the nigerian's had shot the child soldier was almost enough to convince him that the old Georgie was back. It wasn't quite enough though. She might have her head in it when she needed to, but there had been a few times he'd looked at her beforehand and she'd looked like she was on another planet. He wondered again briefly if he was doing the right thing by allowing her to stay.

He was still questioning himself as they stood around the table in the ops room that evening, listening to the Nigerian captain as he explained things to them.

"The plan was always to go to the outreach project boss." She nodded towards the map as she spoke. "It's only a mile or two from Lampese and that's why we're here. I think while we're here we go up there and make some enquiries about the school girls."

He had to bite his tongue and remind himself to cut her some slack. "We are here to work with the outreach project, not to try and locate the missing school girls."

"But if we left at first light then we could go there first and still be at the outreach project on time." She countered. "Surely if we can get any kind of intel about the girls then it'll help?"

He shook his head. "We're not going off piste and risking everyone's lives Lane."

"It's not even off piste! It's literally the town right next to the outreach project. We can go and hand out some flyers about the inoculations."

He glanced up at the Nigerian captain standing opposite him, taking a deep breath. "Fine." He said slowly. "We can go and do the leaflet drop but then we're going straight back to the outreach project. Understood?"

"Yes Boss." She nodded. "Thank you."

He nodded. "Go on."

* * *

To say he'd breathed a sigh of relief when the leaflet drop was done and they all headed back to the outreach project was probably an understatement. It had sounded okay in principle, but once they'd actually got there he'd had this horrible sickening feeling in his stomach that they'd made a mistake. It was an unnecessary risk and he should never have let her talk him into it.

He was still mulling it over in his head, stood outside the outreach project when Fingers had approached him. "What do you think boss?"

He stared at Fingers blankly. "What?'

"Troops vs. Locals." Fingers nodded towards a roughly marked football pitch. "Bit of a PR exercise, show them we care."

He couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. "May I remind you, you massive cockwomble, that you're on duty."

"Cheers Boss, you haven't called me that in a very long time." Fingers laughed.

He laughed with him in spite of himself. Truth be told he wished things could go back to the way they had been that first tour in Afghanistan. "One game." He agreed. "And please, don't completely disgrace us."

"Yes boys!" Fingers cheered, running back to Monk and Rab. "It's on!"

He was standing watching two section get their asses kicked by a group of kids when Lane appeared beside him. "Boss, I need to go and pick some kids up that couldn't get here. They're orphans."

"What are you talking about?" He turned away from the football to look at her.

"It'll only take five minutes."

"Well… why can't the NGO's go and pick them up?" He asked.

"I need to see which ones we need to bring back. It'll be quicker like this." She reasoned.

"Okay." That uncomfortable feeling in his stomach was back again. "Kingy, Richards, Rab… You're escorting Lane to pick up some infants." He waved them over.

"Thanks Boss." She smiled, already turning and walking away.

He turned his attention back to the remainder of two section, shouting some words of encouragement at them in the hope it might help them recover at least some of their dignity.

* * *

"What if we went back to the town while we're out?" Georgie suggested as Richards started driving. "We could try again, see if anyone knows anything about the girls."

Richards glanced over at her, as if doing a double take. "You do know that no one there is going to tell you anything?"

"How will we know if we don't try?"

"If we don't try then we won't go getting ourselves in any bother." Richards pointed out. "God, how did I end up being the grown up?"

Georgie laughed. "We're not going to be getting in to any bother. We're trying to help. We're going to the town, having a quick look around and then straight back to pick the kids up."

Richards didn't say anything, her attention diverted by the red jeep that pulled out infront of them and headed off in the opposite direction. "Aint that those tossers from the market?"

Georgie craned her neck, her eyes following the jeep as it raced off down the road. "Yeah… I think so. God knows what they're up to."

"What's that up there?" Richards pointed straight up ahead of them where a car was stopped in the middle of the road.

Georgie squinted in the sunlight. There was someone laying on the floor in front of the car, someone else crouched beside him and waving for help. "Kingy, there's an RTC up ahead." She shouted back over her shoulder, Richards started to slow the truck as they approached.

They all jumped out and ran towards them as Richards parked the truck. She didn't realise her mistake until a second too late. The boy who had been laying on the floor suddenly sitting bolt upright and she found herself on the wrong end of a gun. As the rest of them ran out of the bushes, weapons raised and surrounded her she found herself wondering why she hadn't seen them there in the first place. She slowly raised her hands up in surrender, the others following suit. "Alright, alright."

There was nothing left to do but watch in horror as they took all of their weapons from them and bundled them into the back of a truck.

"What the hell do we do now?" Richards hissed as the doors closed behind them.

"It's going to be okay." Georgie attempted to reassure them. Rab had gone as white as a sheet. "They'll find us."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

They were being dragged across some little compound when she spotted it- that red jeep that seemed to be following them around like a bad smell. It came racing through the gates, tyres squealing in protest. The momentary distraction meant that she didn't realise Adewole was being pulled in a different direction to the rest of them before he was already out of reach. She went to take a step towards him, calling out to him but the feeling of a gun being shoved in to her back stopped her in her tracks.

The sound of the metal door of the cell slamming shut behind them as she was pushed through the doorway behind Maisie, Rab and Kingy had a horrible finality to it. Her stomach churned and she tried to remind herself to breathe and stay calm enough to think. The sound of screaming coming from the other side of the door did little to help her clear her mind. "What's going on Kingy?" She asked, walking towards him, stretching up onto her toes so she could peer through the tiny little window.

"Adewole." Kingy answered, his voice grim.

The sound of gunshots made her duck for cover automatically. She stood back up and peered over Kingy's shoulder, almost afraid to look. Adewole stood a few meters in front of them, being handcuffed to a wooden post and surrounded by rebel fighters.

"It looks like the older ones are conferring… I'm not so sure they'll be reasonable." Kingy commented quietly.

Georgie stood rooted to the spot beside him. She didn't want to see what was inevitably about to happen, but somehow found herself unable to tear her eyes away either. It was the sound of Adewole's anguished cries that eventually broke her. She turned away, unable to bear it any more and wishing desperately she had something to block out the sound with. It was just as haunting as watching Elvis fall from that building.

Only this time it was all her fault.

* * *

He was hunched over the map in the ops room with the Nigerian captain, trying to work out what the bloody hell had happened.

"The abandoned vehicle was found here."

"Miles away from where they were supposed to be." Charles sighed. "From there they could have been taken anywhere… what the bloody hell were they doing?'

The nigerian captain gave him a smile of understanding. "More troops arrive at first light. Undercover operatives will be out checking possible locations. We will get them back."

"They're not known for their mercy, are they?" He finally said it out loud, the nagging thought at the back of his mind.

"We will do all we can to secure their release." The other captain promised.

"If anything happens to them…" His voice faltered, suddenly overcome by the thought of it. "I'll never forgive myself."

He jumped out of his skin as the door to the ops room was flung open. He stood staring at the woman in front of him for a moment as she glared at him.

"What the fuck were your men doing there?" She snapped. "You bunch of idiots just blew a three month undercover operation and put everyone's lives at risk."

"What are you doing here?" He looked her up and down, wondering for a second how she'd even managed to get in there.

She shook her head. "Maybe you'd like to tell me why you've fucked up a three month special forces operation."

He stared at her blankly. He didn't have an answer for that- they shouldn't have been there and everyone knew it. "I don't know what they were doing there." He answered weakly in the end, when he realised she was still waiting for an answer.

"Three fucking months we've been watching them!" She hissed, shaking her head in disbelief. "You lot are fucking unbelievable."

"You need to be part of the solution, not another problem." Charles shot back at her. He was feeling stupid enough as it was without having someone point it out to him. Why had he let them go?

"I am the solution, you're the bloody problem." She shot back.

"Well good, you go ahead and be the solution." He slammed his hands down on the table in frustration. "Why didn't you say you were undercover?"

She took a step back, shaking her head. "I don't know if you're aware, but undercover doesn't work that well if you walk around advertising that's what you're doing. Kind of defeats the object. Did you think I was here on bloody holiday?"

"Captain Ogoucho, I don't believe you two have met." Charles nodded in the direction of his nigerian counterpart. "Captain Dawes, Special Forces."

She took a breath, nodded a greeting and straightened up. "We have eyes on, they're alive. For now anyway… but this situation is fluid."

"Well, we need to alert Whitehall." Charles said quickly.

She braced her arms on the edge of the table, shaking her head as though he'd made the most ridiculous suggestion. "You fucking moron. The _only_ thing we have on our side right now is surprise. We're going to do this my way, unless you want to explain to their families when they unload the coffins at Brize Norton."

Charles glared at her but bit his tongue. He couldn't remember the last time someone had the nerve to talk to him like that. She was right though, as much as he hated to admit it.

She took it as an invitation to continue, though he was beginning to suspect she would've carried on regardless of what he'd said. "Right now they're going to think they've got twenty four, maybe forty eight hours before we manage to locate them. We need to act fast, before they kill them. Okay."

He nodded in agreement.

"If you could try not to massively fuck it all up this time then that would be great." She shot back.

He was about to argue with her when she held a hand up to silence him, her finger going to her earpiece to listen to what was being said.

"Zero Alpha this is One Alpha. We've got some big boys turning up here Boss." Spanner's voice came through in her ear.

"Zero Alpha, roger that. Out." She answered, turning her attention back to the map in front of them. "Right then…Bones, get your ass in here!"

* * *

Kingy sprung into action the second the door to the cell swung open, putting himself between their captors and them. "We're British Army. We need you to release us immediately." His voice was calm and level, as though this was an everyday situation for him.

It didn't have the desired effect and she found herself taking a step forwards to stand beside him as weapons were drawn and aimed in their direction. "We're medics, here to help your people."

"You're not welcome here." One of them shot back at her.

"We're not here to cause you any harm." Kingry tried again. "My family is from Nigeria."

They exchanged a look that Georgie couldn't quite work out what it meant before the leader spoke again. "Muslim?"

"British Army." Kingy breathed.

"The British Army is not a religion."

"I'm Muslim and I'm British Army." Rab seemed to have suddenly regained his voice again, but before Georgie could tell him to shut it one of the rebels took a swing at Kingy that sent him flying backwards.

"What are you-" She took a step towards them before she thought, and they grabbed her by the arms dragging her out of the cell and slamming the door shut behind her. She passed Adowole, still tied in the middle of the compound as they dragged her across to the other side. His face was bloody and bruised but she said a silent prayer of thanks that he was still alive at least.

She stumbled as they shoved her through the doorway of another cell almost identical to the one she'd just come from, except for a small stained mattress lying on the floor in the middle. Her stomach rolled with the realisation she was trapped and alone.

She waited, crouched behind the door for what she knew was coming. She hadn't got anything she could use to defend herself and deep down she knew she wasn't going to stand a chance trying to fight them off alone, particularly if there was more than one of them. Her mind refused to consider the alternative though. The sound of the heavy metal door being unlocked sent a shiver up her spine as she braced herself, listening to the sound of heavy footsteps as they came closer.

He walked in, stopping for a moment to look back out of the small window in the door and she seized her opportunity. "Don't even think about it." She hissed, rushing at him.

"Hey, hey… it's me. Peanut." He caught her by the arm, protecting himself from the incoming attack. As he pulled of his cap and sunglasses with the other hand she realised she knew the man standing in front of her.

"Oh thank god." She breathed, throwing her arms around his neck. Her legs were trembling from the adrenaline.

"I'm undercover." He explained, his voice hushed. "Drug dealer from Lagos. I saw you with our boss in the village, I was in the jeep."

"Your boss? He seems like a bit of a dickhead."

The faintest trace of a smile crossed his lips. "Not him. Her…. and she's the best dickhead special forces have got to offer at the minute so consider yourself lucky. They both are actually."

"Get us out of here Peanut." She pleaded.

"We'll give it a go." He nodded. "Have you still got your watch?"

She nodded and he held her wrist up, checking the time with his own.

"17.00hrs, keep everyone away from that back wall okay? Because someone's going to be putting a massive hole in it."

"Okay." She nodded.

He paused. "And in the meantime, you might want to struggle a bit."

It took a moment for her to realise what he was saying. "Got it." She nodded. "Get off me!" She shouted, making sure it was loud enough for everyone outside to hear.

* * *

The rest of two section were gathered around the table in the ops room, watching as they were given instructions using a rather hastily drawn map of the compound their friends were being held in. "The compound, heavily guarded 24/7." Dawes explained. "The cell, located at the south east corner of the compound 100m from the main gates. One of my guys will launch a diversionary attack with help from Nigerian SF at the main gates. We blast through the wall while they're all nice and busy at the front gates, extract and away. Before they even know we're there. Got it?"

"Piece of cake." Fingers joked. He stopped as Bones glared at him from his position beside Molly.

"If you think it's going to be easy then I suggest you get your head out of your ass and start paying attention." She snapped. "Any questions?" She looked around at them all.

"No." Everyone answered.

"Good." She nodded. "Nobody let me down."

The majority of the journey towards the compound was spent in a tense silence. He could practically feel the nerves radiating off two section. Charles found himself studying the Special Forces Captain sitting opposite him, until she glanced in his direction and met his eye. Then he felt like he had to say something. "Have you worked with Nigerian SF before?" He couldn't help but notice how much she'd changed since they'd been at Sandhurst.

"Yeah." She nodded. " I just hope you useless bastards can keep up."

He rolled his eyes, the conversation coming to a rather abrupt end.

As much as he wanted to hate her, she was bloody good at her job and he couldn't deny it. They all watched silently as she set the explosives up on the wall carefully, silently ordering everyone in to their positions as her and Bones finished making their preparations.

"Hello, Zero Alpha. This is One Alpha." The voice came through the radio.

"Hello One Alpha, this is Zero Alpha. On the start line." She answered him quietly. "Launch phase one."

The seconds seemed to drag on for an eternity as they stood pressed up against the wall at the back of the compound waiting for the go ahead.

"All call signs, this is One Alpha. Launching phase one." He held his breath as he heard it come through the radio.

The gunshots and the screams echoed around the compound. Even though they'd known they were coming everyone still flinched at the sound. From all the shots he could hear flying around he had to wonder quite how many men she'd got out the front there, surely they couldn't keep them distracted for long at all?

'Breech." She called, the explosion that followed a few seconds later was deafening.

"Go, go, go." He ordered, blinking to try and clear his vision from all the dust. They piled into the cell through the hole they'd just created. "Richards, lets go." He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out. Brains followed, grabbing Kingy and he saw Fingers grab hold of Rab and push him towards the exit.

"Lane, move!" Dawes shouted, grabbing the medic by the arm.

"We've got to get Adewole!" Georgie argued, heading towards the door to look and see if she could see him.

"Fucking move. Now." Dawes snapped.

"Once I know you're not going to leave him!"

"Our job was to extract you four fucking idiots which is exactly what we're doing. Now either get in the truck or I'll put you there myself." She threatened, grabbing her roughly by her collar and hauling her out of there before she could try and argue any more.

* * *

If she hadn't been so angry they'd blown her entire operation, the looks of complete and utter shock on Two Section's face probably would've been enough to make her laugh. The full force of what could've happened to them all appeared to have kicked in at some point on the way home. Served them bloody right too as far as she was concerned.

"How are you doing Lane?" Captain James twisted around in his seat at the front to look at her. "Richards, Kalil?'

Her sunglasses disguised the way she rolled her eyes at him thankfully.

"Fine boss." Richards answered, Kalil nodding in agreement.

She couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer, turning to look at Lane who was sitting beside her. "Skin of your teeth. Skin of your teeth we didn't need those body bags." She commented. Bones nodded in agreement. He was looking at two section with thinly disguised disgust.

"Textbook extraction… I love it!" Fingers could barely sit still.

"Yeah but Adewole isn't-" Georgie started.

"I can guarantee he's not thanking you right now." Molly cut in. "Blaming you, yeah. Thanking you, no."

"Alright, you've made your point." Georgie cried.

Molly opened her mouth to speak again and then changed her mind. Not that she was done. They'd completely screwed her whole operation up and she was more than ready to give them a bollocking for it, just maybe not when they were all going to be cramped in the back of a truck together for a long period of time.

* * *

She'd been doing quite well at keeping her mouth shut, something the Brigadier always said she'd never learned how to do, up until that stupid bloody debrief Captain James had insisted they go to. She'd been stood in the corner, leaning against a table with Bones, Spanner and Peanut counting down the seconds until they could get out of there and get back home. The one upside to their undercover going down the toilet was that she'd get to head back to civilization for a bit. But then Captain James had opened his mouth and she just hadn't been able to stop herself.

"Well done guys, each and every one of you played a part." Captain James started. "Kingy, Lane, Richards and Rab- you'll all need a psych session when we get back to Lagos. Right now, scoff and an early night. We're out of here and back to the barracks in Lagos at first light. Any questions?"

"No Boss."

"I'm proud of all of you, well done." He continued.

It was the sight of them all applauding themselves that broke her in the end. "What the fuck are you lot clapping for?" She snapped, straightening up. "We have achieved precisely nothing here, in fact worse than nothing. That Nigerian medic won't be cheering right now."

Lane turned around to glare at her. "We never should have left him there in the first place."

"No." Molly answered through gritted teeth. "You never should've been there in the first place. This is what happens when you don't follow the fucking orders you're given! The chances are because of you those school girls are going to be moved away and our _entire_ operation will have been for nothing. So how about you clap that you fucking morons?"

She could feel Captain James glaring at her as she turned on her heel and walked out, the rest of her team following closely behind her.

* * *

She'd followed Lane over to the med centre, because if she was honest, she was curious and was hoping to get five minutes to talk to her to test her theory. So she'd stood in the doorway, watching the medic as she'd checked over the young child soldier they'd caught a few days earlier. She'd probably been there ten minutes before Georgie looked up and saw her there.

"Don't they say lightning never strikes twice?" Molly asked, raising an eyebrow.

Georgie stared at her blankly.

"Ain't this your second venture in to being held hostage?" Molly elaborated.

The look on Georgie's face answered the question for her. "Yeah well, it was my fault." She sighed.

"Maybe." Molly nodded. "Or maybe it was Captain James'. Me and Bones were Sandburst with that cock… I've been trying to steer clear ever since."

"You were at Sandhurst?" Georgie stared at her.

"What can I say? They're letting all sorts in these days. Still, I bet he's really glad he chose to stay and play mother hen with you lot instead of manning up and actually doing something."

Georgie rolled her eyes. "Do you just hate everyone?"

"No." Molly shook her head. "I liked Elvis."

Georgie's face fell for a moment before she recovered herself. "Well you're not doing a very good job of filling his boots, are you? He would've made sure Adewole got out too. And he would've found the school girls."

"We were told to observe, gather intel." Molly sighed wearily. "It's all just politics."

"Well that's where you and Elvis differ. He would've done what needed to be done anyway."

Molly shook her head, turning to walk away. "Yeah well, unlike you Lane not all of us can keep breaking the rules time and time again and somehow keep hold of our jobs." She called back over her shoulder as she left.

* * *

It might've been the crack of dawn but the sound of shots being fired had everyone out of bed and in their kit in a matter of seconds. It was a reflex reaction after years spent living in a war zone. Kingy was already getting two section into position by the time Charles ran round the corner. His was vaguely aware that the Special Forces Captain was half a step behind him. They met the Nigerian Captain in the entrance on his way to find them.

"Rebels have surrounded the FOB. They say they won't attack if we give them back the prisoner." He explained quickly.

"The boy?" Charles asked in surprise.

He nodded. "He's the rebel leaders son."

"We can't just hand him over." Charles shook his head.

Molly paused for a second, waving her guys through as they went out to join two section. "What do you want to do then? Stay here and die?" She asked sarcastically. "What do you think is going to happen if they attack us in here? It's not going to be good is it?"

Charles stared at her as she jogged down the hallway to join the others outside.

She cursed under her breath as she crouched down beside Spanner. She wasn't quite sure what she'd been expecting, but it was definitely worse than she'd thought. "Well, we're okay while we're in here I suppose." She said slowly.

"Aye." Spanner agreed. "But the second we step out…"

"Or the second it gets dark." Peanut chipped in.

"So basically we're fucked." Bones shook his head.

She nodded, her expression grim. "This FOB has got a lot of weak points. We're not going to be able to defend them all." She turned and jogged back up the stairs before they could say anything else.

"Right then." She said, walking into the ops room. Captain James looked at her expectantly, Georgie standing beside him. "We've got two options. Try and fight our way out, or we can try and negotiate safe passage out of here."

"Or we could call for backup?" Charles suggested.

She shook her head at him, but thankfully the Nigerian Captain cut in before she could tell him what a stupid suggestion that was. "There are Boko Haram fighters between here and the government territory. They're not going to get through without significant loss of life."

"Which is why it's a fucking stupid idea and I didn't suggest it." Molly added.

"Well they're not going to attack us in here." Charles shook his head. "If they were going to do that they would've done it already."

"They want that kid back." Molly was beginning to wonder if he could possibly be as stupid as he seemed. "We can call air support in from Lagos but it'll take hours and they'll just scatter and come back… they want that kid back-"

"And we want Adewole back." Georgie butted in.

Molly glared at her. "Sorry, who died and made you Queen?"

"What?" Georgie stared at her.

"Well I was just wondering what made you think you'd got the right to tell me how this is going to go?" Molly demanded. "He might let you get away with doing what you want but that shit isn't going to fly with me."

Georgie looked thrown for a moment, then carried on regardless. "Let's offer to swap the kid for Adewole. Tell them we need safe passage to a government controlled area and then make the exchange. Everyone's happy."

Molly was quiet for a moment, thinking. Captain James nodded in agreement with what Lane had just said. The sound of more gunshots from outside echoed around the compound. "This is getting more and more volatile. Whatever we're doing we need to do it quickly." She sighed.

"The only thing that's important is that everyone makes it back to Lagos in one piece." Captain James commented.

She couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes at him this time. "How very fucking profound."

* * *

The entire journey had been more or less silent, only punctuated by Lane's random reminders that they all needed to drink more. Most of them did it just to humour her, but everyone's minds were on the exchange that still had to take place. They might be almost back to government controlled land but it didn't mean they were out of danger by any means.

Molly's heart was pounding in her ears as the trucks rolled to a stop at the exchange point. It didn't matter how many times she did these things, she'd probably never get used to it. Not that she ever let it show on the outside, the last thing she needed was for any of them to realise she wasn't quite sure how this was going to go. Spanner gave her a nod before crawling under the truck to get into his position. Two section scurried around to get into their positions.

Molly reached up and grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt as he climbed down off the truck. Captain James walked around to meet her at the back, looking at her expectantly. "Well." She muttered. "Let's just see how this pans out then."

"Try to remember you and I are on the same side." He raised an eyebrow at her, although her expression was difficult to read behind her sunglasses.

"At least whatever happens it shouldn't take too long." She joked, pushing the boy forward so he was walking in front of her.

They stopped in front of the truck, her and Captain James on either side of the boy about 100m away from the rebel leader and Adewole. "Send my boy." He shouted across at them.

She pulled her sunglasses off, tucking them in to the front of her vest and exchanged a quick glance with Captain James. He almost missed the way her hand dipped into the front of her vest quickly before she slung her arm around the boys shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to come with me?" She asked him. He turned to look at her and she moved her hand back a fraction to reveal the grenade tucked inside. "Because if anything happens I'm pulling the pin."

He shook his head slightly. "I'm coming. I take it the grenade is an insurance policy."

"Exactly." She nodded.

"Let's go then."

They started walking slowly. "God, I'd love to pull the pin right now just to see the look on your face." She laughed.

It was slow progress, but eventually they reached the middle. She stood there, gripping onto the back of the boys shirt and the grenade as Charles shouted at them to send Adewole. It was idealistic to think they were going to send him before they had their boy back, but worth a shot.

"Spanner?" She breathed into her radio. "Have you got this little fucker in your sights."

"Oh yes boss."

She slowly released her grip on the boy and gave him a little shove forwards, watching as he started walking towards his father. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath as Adewole stumbled towards them, being held up by a young girl. Molly kept her eyes glued to him as Charles called in Lane and Fingers to carry him back towards the truck. Something about it just didn't seem quite right.

It wasn't until Lane and Fingers abandoned Adewole on the floor and ran back towards the girl that her stomach dropped and she realised what they should've seen coming. Lane's cry of "vest" as Fingers pinned the girls arms above her head spurred her into action, rushing towards them.

There was a hive of activity behind them, Brains and Rab rushing in to scoop Adewole up the floor, the rebel fighters all clearing away in anticipation of the blast.

"Just stay calm." Molly said, her voice low as she stood in front of them looking at the vest.

Captain James suddenly arrived by her side. "Right. Help will be at least two hours coming from Lagos."

Molly shook her head. "I'm going to have to neutralise it."

"No, no, no." Georgie said quickly. "You need equipment."

"It's unstable." Molly reasoned. "We can't risk it."

"You can't do it." Georgie shook her head.

Molly took a breath. "Captain James, I'm going to need you on the wire to Lagos. Direct line between me and you, I might have questions you're going to need to get the answers to."

Charles hesitated for a second then nodded in agreement. "Roger that." He called, already sprinting back towards the trucks.

There was a moment of silence before Georgie spoke. "What's your name?" She asked the girl.

"Grace."

"That's my mums name." Georgie smiled. "We're going to get you out of this and get you back to your family. I promise."

"I didn't want to do this, I-" the girl started.

"Will you all shut up and keep still!" Molly snapped.

"We know, we understand." Georgie carried on.

Molly held her breath and time seemed to stand still and she pulled the wire cutters from her vest and moved them slowly towards the green and white wire. The little beep that came as she cut the wire, the seconds ticking down on the clock, seemed to speed everything up again. "Get the vest off, get it off!" She shouted.

The seconds seemed to go by in the blink of an eye and last a lifetime simultaneously. She could hear them shouting behind her to get down, ready for the explosion that was coming in a matter of seconds as she ripped the vest over the girls head and threw it as far as she could manage.

They were sprinting back in the direction of the trucks, her hand gripping the back of Lane's vest and Fingers holding the girl. Her lungs burned as they ran in what felt like slow motion, and then the force of the explosion behind them knocked them clean off their feet. The four of them laid there for a second, almost afraid to move until they realised that by some small miracle they were actually okay.

"Everyone alright?" Captain James asked, holding out a hand to pull Molly and Georgie to their feet.

"It was a timer. Ten seconds." Molly muttered, dusting herself off. She bent down and picked up Georgie's gun. "Yours Lane." She passed it to her and then pushed past Charles to join the rest of her team standing by the truck.

"Well then, let's get back to Lagos shall we?" Charles suggested.

It wasn't until they got back to the barracks that Molly spoke again, grabbing Fingers by the elbow as he jumped down from the truck. "You're on by the way."

"Sorry?" He stared at her blankly.

"Selection. You're on when we get back." She said again.

The look that crossed his face was almost enough to make her smile as she turned and walked away.

* * *

The trip out to Slinky's was exactly the kind of relief they all needed after the events of the previous few days. It wasn't usually his kind of place, but he needed a beer or two after all that had happened and it was easier to make sure Two Section weren't heaping shame upon themselves if he was actually there.

It was alright for an hour or so, then he realised quite how bloody tired he was. That was when he'd spotted her, standing at the top of the stairs, looking down over everyone. He found himself wandering over to say hello.

"Are you on duty?" He asked, stopping beside her. Spanner and Peanut wandered off to chat to a couple of other guys to their left. Bones was off to the right, chatting up some nurses.

She nodded, gesturing at her uniform. "Said we'd ferry the guys back. You had enough?"

"You deserve a drink after today." He smiled.

She shrugged. "We will when our tour is over, not before then. You want a lift back?"

He shook its head. "It's alright. I'll wait for the bus."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Come on." She waved towards the exit the glanced back at Spanner. "Oi, you two. I'm just taking Captain James back, won't be long."

She was quiet for the first few minutes of the drive back to barracks, then curiosity got the better of her. "So then, you and Lane…." She glanced over at him.

"What?" The surprise was clear on his face and she felt the relief wash over her.

"Well I had kinda assumed you two were sleeping together, the way she talks to you." Molly shrugged. "Only explanation I could think of as to why you'd let her get away with half the crap she does."

He stared at her, mouth open, in disbelief as he tried to process what she'd just said.

"Oh come on." Molly laughed. "Don't try and bullshit me. I've seen the way you two keep looking at each other… if you're telling me it ain't happened yet then it's obviously going to."

He shook his head. "I just…I'm trying to look out for her, that's all. Y'know after everything with Elvis." He shifted uncomfortably as she parked the Land Rover up as they reached the barracks.

"If that's what you want to keep telling yourself mate. Still, she's probably better than that moody cow you married the first time." She shrugged. "No skin off my nose, I'm outta here tomorrow thank god."

He laughed quietly, climbing out. "Well thanks for the lift."

"That's it?" She laughed, shaking her head. "What about a thanks for saving half your section and defusing a bloody bomb?"

"Yeah well, that too." He smiled, leaning through the window. "See you around Dawes."

"I bloody hope not." She shook her head, sitting there watching for a moment as he walked away before she started the engine to head back to the bar.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

One of the first things he'd been told when they arrived at the barracks in Belize was that the Brigadier wanted to see him. His stomach had sunk, he didn't need to hear anymore to know it wasn't going to be anything good. There wasn't much good that had come of anything recently- first there was Elvis, then Georgie getting kidnapped on his watch, _again._ It was something that hadn't gone unnoticed he was sure.

And yet he still found himself stood there in front of the brigadier, trying to reason with him and explain what had happened. He was kidding himself if he thought he was going to be able to talk his way out of it this time. Well, not without having to throw Georgie under the bus for it anyway.

"With respect sir-" He started.

"When you are taking a bollocking Captain James you accept, apologise and move on." The brigadier shot back at him.

"Sir." Charles nodded tightly.

With a sigh the brigadier went back to the papers on his desk. "Your forward action reports do not make for good reading."

Charles took a deep breath. "I let you down, Sir."

"You let yourself down." He shook his head. "Relax, take a seat. I'm still not sure how this Captain Azizi was able to fool you quite so easily."

"I was naive, Sir." Charles stared straight at a scratch on the back of the desk, focusing all of his attention on it so he didn't have to look at the look of disappointment on the other mans face.

"Naive at best." He answered. "One Cat A, no deaths."

"One Special Forces fatality, Sir." It made him feel sick, talking about Elvis as though he was just another number on a report rather than his best friend.

"The finding of the inquiry board does not link Captain Harte's death with your piss poor judgement of Captain Azizi."

"Sir." Charles nodded, grimacing.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in." He called, not looking away from Charles as he did.

Charles wasn't sure why he was surprised to see Georgie walk through the door, he should've known she'd be involved somehow after everything that had happened in Afghanistan. There was no way to gloss over it. He'd tried to leave her out of his report as much as possible, it hadn't seemed fair to pile anything else on her after everything. But as she stood beside him she shot him an almost accusatory look and he couldn't help but wonder if she really thought he'd throw her under the bus to save himself. Surely she knew by now how much he cared about her?

"Corporal Lane was emotionally involved with Captain Harte." Charles wanted the floor to swallow him up as the brigadier read the words directly from his report.

Georgie's entire body stiffened as she stood beside him. "Who's saying that Sir?"

"Somewhat taken out of context, Sir." Charles added hastily, feeling like he had to say something.

"Is it not true?" He asked, ignoring Charles completely and still staring at Georgie as he waited for an answer.

"Elvis' death had nothing to do with our emotional involvement." Georgie struggled to get the words out.

"Captain Harte's death meant that you were not in a fit state to provide medical assistance. When you are on duty we do not expect lines to be blurred between our troops. It rarely ends well."

"Will that be all Sir?" Georgie asked quietly, her bottom lip trembling as she struggled to hold herself together.

"Yes Lane." The brigadier nodded, glancing back and forth between her and Charles. "Dismissed."

"Thank you Sir." She nodded before turning to leave.

There was a long moment of silence as Charles sat there waiting to be dismissed himself. "I thought Central America was supposed to be famous for its coffee." The brigadier sighed. He took a breath, gathering his thoughts. "You knew they were emotionally involved and you didn't call it in?"

"I'm sorry Sir." Charles answered.

"I need you, as Commanding Officer, to call everything in." There was a warning tone to his voice when he spoke again. "If you are too emotionally involved with this unit then maybe it's you who needs to move on."

"That won't be necessary Sir." The words were out of his mouth straight away.

"Lane's actions after the explosion were understandable given the circumstances. We are not linking the events at the compound with the death in Kabul."

"He was my best friend Sir." Charles added quietly.

"I'm aware. It's one of the reasons you're not being disciplined." He sighed. "It is on your record though."

"Sir." He nodded.

"Captain Dawes was far from complimentary about both Lane and you in her report from Nigeria too, and there's no arguing that it's not fair and accurate. Make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Yes Sir."

* * *

He was still mulling it over in his mind, wondering exactly what Dawes might have said about him as he stood in front of Two Section the next morning. There was no doubt in his mind that Bones would have stabbed him in the back the first opportunity he got, there was a lot of history there. Molly Dawes on the other hand was still something of an unknown.

"Right guys, as you were." He cleared his throat. "This is Captain Roger, Belizian Special Forces. Expert in jungle warfare, served with the SAS."

"Good morning guys." Roger nodded.

"Sir."

"I trust you have all read the casualty extraction plan?" Charles asked.

"Sir." They all nodded.

"Go on then Monk, unconscious casualty."

"Unconscious casualty, the medic will assess any further danger to everyone and then carry out an assessment."

Charles nodded. "Carry on Lane."

She stared at him blankly for a moment, then shook her head as if to clear it. "Catastrophic bleed, airway, breathing, circulation." She said eventually.

His eyes lingered on her for just a second before he turned back to Roger. "Told you they were good." He smiled.

Roger nodded slightly. "The jungle is a hostile and unforgiving environment. Yes, this is an exercise but you will still need to be careful."

"We're going to be dividing in to two teams. Each team will be given a grid reference of where their casualty is. You will collect your casualty, put them on the stretcher and return to the RV point as quickly and safely as you can." He tried to hide his smile as he saw the looks being exchanged between the lads. They'd already turned it into a race.

"Time is life." Roger continued. "The longer you take the more chance you casualty won't make it."

He paused for a second to let the words sink in. "Right, Lane, Kalil, Kingy- Alpha team. Locate the casualty, carry out the appropriate treatment, call it in and evacuate being mindful not to worsen the casualty's condition. Brains, Monk, Richards and myself- Bravo team."

"Have you all checked your kit?" Roger asked.

"Yes sir." They nodded.

"Good. Now you can check it again with me watching." Roger ordered. "Your kit can save your life, this jungle is lethal."

He watched as Roger walked backwards and forwards, checking everything before nodding in satisfaction.

"Right then, Bravo team on me." Charles called. "Alpha team on Roger. He won't be accompanying you in the jungle as this is a medic led exercise."

"We haven't got a medic on our team boss!" Richards called after him.

"I've completed my medic course every time I've been deployed to Afghanistan, which is five times more than you Richards." He shot back. He could see Brains and Fingers struggling to hold back their laughter.

"The most important thing is that you all make it to the RV point in one piece, casualty too." Roger repeated.

* * *

The journey to the start was loud, there was something about the idea of a race that seemed to create even more excitement than usual from two section. Although he pretended it annoyed him sometimes he actually really enjoyed it. He'd worked with them all for a long time now and they were a second family to him. The brigadiers words came back into his mind again- had he become too emotionally involved with them after all?

He didn't dwell on it as the truck rolled to a stop. "Right then, Bravo team!" He shouted, jumping out of the truck. "Let's go!"

"Right then." Roger stood in front of them. "On your casualty you will find a grid reference for you RV point. I will be there waiting for you. Is everyone ready?"

"Sir." They nodded.

"Good." Roger nodded. "Alpha team...Move. Bravo team, you are entering the jungle over there."

"Ain't that giving them a head start though boss?" Brains complained. Georgie, Kingy and Rab had already disappeared out of sight in the dense undergrowth.

"You'll just have to work a bit harder then, won't you Brains." Charles laughed.

"I'll see you back at the RV point Captain James." Roger said, climbing back into the truck. "I'm just going back to base to pick up the brigadier, he wants to be there to congratulate the victor."

"What would you say our ETA is?" Charles asked.

"About two hours to the casualty." Roger answered. "Then depending on the diagnosis about three hours back to the RV point."

Charles nodded. "Right, do me a favour then guys. Let's win this one?"

"You're not after impressing the boss are you?" Richards laughed.

Charles glared at her. "I'll feed you to the alligators if you let me down on this Richards."

* * *

It had all been going so well. They'd found the casualty, way ahead of Kingy's team and were making quick progress back through the jungle towards the RV point. If they could get back there in the next fifty two minutes then they'd hold the new record for it. He couldn't help but wonder if maybe then the brigadier would stop looking at him like he was such a failure.

It was his desire to win that led him to suggest they took the shortcut. He'd even said the beers were on him when they won, just in case his team needed any more motivation other than being able to rub their friends noses in it. The pace they'd been going at was punishing and they were all starting to flag a bit, Richards kept asking to stop for a drink but he kept pushing on. He could almost taste the victory.

He'd been a couple of steps ahead of the rest of them, clearing a path for them when the pain had shot through his leg. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before. In fact he'd probably take being shot again over that. Their casualty was long since forgotten, dumped face down on the floor as they scrambled for their weapons, none of them sure what had actually happened.

"Boss?" Brains and Monk were behind him.

"It's some kind of trap." Richard's called. "Keep still boss."

He desperately wanted to point out to her that he quite clearly wasn't going anywhere but he could barely breathe through the pain never mind make a joke.

"The fucking comms are down." Monk hissed.

It was at that point they'd heard movement behind them. There was a collective sigh of relief as Kingy, Georgie and Rab came around the corner.

"It's his leg. Through and through." Richards explained quickly. "I didn't want to move anything because… well, I didn't know."

"It's okay." Georgie said, her voice calm. "You've done a good job. We can't move him- can you try and cut him free?." She was vaguely aware of a commotion in the background as Kingy and Monk tried desperately to get the comms working again.

"He's free." Richards nodded.

"Okay… lets um… let's try and lay him down. I'm going to give you some pain relief boss." Georgie instructed. Her mind was racing, considering a hundred different scenarios and trying to work out what the hell they were supposed to do now. Charles was usually the calming influence in situations like these, but she could barely hear herself think over the sound of him screaming in pain. She tried to focus on applying a tourniquet and bandage as the blood continued to seep from his leg.

"Right we need to evacuate him back to the RV point." Kingy said eventually. "We can't get the comms back up and running."

"No." Georgie shook her head. "We need to medivac him out of here. There's no way he's going to make it up there."

"They managed to get a stretcher down here." Kingy pointed out, gesturing to the discarded dummy on the floor.

"I can't risk it." Georgie shook her head. "I can't risk jolting his leg and moving the spear."

"There's enough of us for someone to go ahead and clear a path if that's all you're concerned about."

"The quickest and simplest solution is for you to take the guys back to RV point and sort out the medivac. I'll stay here with the boss. You've got our grid reference and then they can come back and get us." Georgie argued.

"Well we don't all need to go. Brains and Richards can stay with you. I'll take Rab and Monk back with me." Kingy suggested. "You shouldn't be here on your own in case something happens."

"It's unnecessary. You all go back and organise help. We'll be fine here for an hour or so." Georgie shook her head at him.

"No." Kingy shook his head. "What's unnecessary is us all leaving you here with absolutely no support if anything else happens."

"This was a medic led exercise." Georgie snapped. "And as the medic, I am telling you that it is completely unnecessary for anyone to stay here. Now go."

There was a moment of silence, it was clear on Kingy's face quite how uncomfortable he was with what he was being asked to do. "Right." He said eventually. "Let's go. Back to the RV point as quick as possible."

* * *

Kingy was struggling for breath as he ran across the clearing towards the tent at the RV point. He saw Roger and the brigadier coming out of the tent, the smiles on their faces quickly fading as they looked at the group of soldiers running towards them. "We've got a problem." Kingy panted, coming to a stop in front of them.

Roger was kitted up and leading them back out into the jungle in what felt like no time at all. Roger was going at such a pace that Kingy and the others probably would have struggled to keep up with him even if they hadn't just run for over an hour to get back to the RV point.

That was why it came as such a surprise when Roger came to a rather abrupt stop right in front of them, raising his arm up and then dropping down to the ground. They all followed suit instantly, hearts pounding in their ears as they listened to the sounds of voice and footsteps coming towards them.

Once the people had passed Roger began moving again, but much more slowly and cautiously this time as they edged through the undergrowth. They hadn't moved much further forward before they could hear voices again and Roger gestured to them all to get down again. "Move. Now." Roger turned and ordered them over his shoulder. There was a moment of hesitation as there was confusion about what he wanted. "Now." He urged, all of them turning to run.

They all dived for cover as the shots started flying around all over the place. None of them could see through the thick undergrowth where they were actually coming from. There was little they could do except try and hide in amongst the plants and wait.

"Drug runners." Roger said quietly into his radio as the shots stopped. He turned to Kingy. "We've never seen them this far south. This is a big problem."

"Why did they fire? They didn't even know who we were." Kingy asked, crouching down beside him.

"They don't care." Roger shrugged. "They've slaughtered entire villages. They say it's just business. Their livelihood is worth millions…. We should get moving again, quickly."

They reached their destination without further incident, much to everyone's relief. The relief didn't last long though as they stood where they'd left the boss and Georgie a couple of hours ago. "What the fuck do we do now?" Kingy asked, everyone turning to look at Roger.

"Search the area." Roger said calmly. "But be careful, there's likely to be more traps in the area."

"Now what?" Kingy asked when the others were out of earshot.

Roger straightened up from where he'd been inspecting the remains of the traps. "If there's no sign of them then we head back to the RV point and wait for first light."

"I don't like the sound of that." Kingy shook his head.

"Clearly they had to move." Roger sighed.

"Or were forcibly moved." Kingy chipped in.

"We need to leave here before dark. I am not going to endanger everybody by being here in the dark." Roger was firm. "Wherever they are they will set off the tracker and we will set off at first light to find them."

"But-"

"Back to the RV point." Roger cut him off again. "Everyone, on me. Now."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"At last!" Roger called, striding across the clearing towards the muddy land rover that had roared into the camp just before first light.

"Alright, calm your tits." She laughed, jumping out of the passenger seat. "We're here now."

"We got a signal from his tracker, about an hour up river." Roger explained.

Molly glanced back over her shoulder. "I think what he's saying is you haven't got time for breakfast."

"The brigadier has set up temp coms." Roger said.

Molly rolled her eyes, turning back to look at Bones. "Told you you should've bloody shaved."

"Dawes!" He called, coming out from the tent and walking towards them.

"Sir." Molly nodded politely, shaking his hand.

"The situation is grave."

"Of course it is, that's why we're here." Bones chipped in.

The brigadier glared at them both. "Well how about you get on with it." He pointed in the direction of the tent.

She struggled to stop herself rolling her eyes at him. "With pleasure."

He nodded and then turned and disappeared into tent. She waited a moment before following him in. "Right everyone out apart from you Kingy." She ordered as she walked in and saw the whole of two section sitting around the table.

Not a single one of them moved.

"You're either going out the door or the side of the tent. I think we all know I'm not joking." She tried again. This time they were all on their feet and out of the door in a second.

"Can I just say-" Kingy started.

"No." She shook her head. "You can't. Because if you hadn't fucking left them there we wouldn't be in this position."

"Lane instructed us to leave her and the Boss and get back here for help." Kingy argued.

"Jesus Christ." Molly laughed sarcastically. "What is it about Lane and her ability to give orders to her superiors. And as for you lot following her orders… Well, when will you ever learn?"

"She's the medic." Kingy argued weakly.

"I'm a trained medic and I'm telling you now that was a shitty call and you should've known it."

"Dawes." The brigadier cut in sharply. "That's enough. Let's get on with the task in hand. I'll deal with everything else once we've got them back."

She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from asking if he was ever going to open his eyes enough to see Lane seemed to be the source of all problems. "We've got a weak intermittent signal from the tracker. There's a very small chance that they're still alive, but I didn't think we'd share my pessimism with the rest of the section. Roger will be leading us in to the village."

"It will be treacherous but I think we'll be able to get there." Roger nodded.

"And back again?" Molly joked.

"I'll see what I can do." Roger laughed.

"Right, Peanut you stay here and direct ops with the brigadier. We'll head for the village, the signal was still there twenty minutes ago so they haven't moved yet thank god." She was already walking back out into the clearing where two section were waiting. "You lot are staying here. You'll be monitoring drone footage. Alert us to any movement."

"Remember you're in bandit country." Bones added, giving them a look of barely disguised disgust. "Try not to do anything too stupid." Molly would've told him to play nice but she was beginning to feel the same. How many times were they going to have to come and bail two section out?

"Our coms will be sporadic once we're under the canopy." Spanner explained.

"Right then." Molly called. "Let's move!"

* * *

It was slow progress, and according to Roger they'd still got the best part of an hour left to go. It was tedious, trying to navigate their way through the dense jungle. Coupled with the fact they were all on edge, constantly keeping their eyes and ears open for bandits the journey into the jungle to get to the villages seemed to last a lifetime.

It was Spanner who eventually broke the silence. "Ugh… I'm sweating like a bastard."

Molly smiled for a second. "I told you to shave that dopey beard off."

Then the gunshot sent them all scrambling.

"Hello delta fire team this is zero. Did you hear a gunshot?" Brain's voice came over the radio.

"Zero this is delta fire team." Bones answered quickly as they scrambled down the bank. "Of course we fucking heard it you idiot. We're heading towards it now. What can you see?"

"Err… Nothing definitive… Over."

"What the fuck does that mean? Over." Molly asked. She glared at Bones who was ranting to Spanner about two section.

"Nothing yet. Trying to see if we can fly the drone lower." Came the response.

"For fucks sake." Bones swore, although thankfully not into his radio this time.

"Zip it." Molly ordered. "You need to behave yourself, you know the Brig would love any excuse to tear you a new one and I'd rather not be stuck here babysitting you any longer than I have to be."

"Oh behave… you love it." He smirked.

"Delta fire team this is zero alpha." The brigadiers voice came through in their ears. "If you encounter anyone do not engage."

"Oh fuck off." Molly and Bones both muttered at the same time, sharing a quick smile as they carried on moving forwards.

Kingy had looked hopeful when he'd found the bullet, smiling as he said it was British issue. She'd almost felt bad as she shrugged it off, exchanging a quick glance with Bones. "Doesn't mean anything."

"If they'd been kidnapped in the village they would've taken their weapons off them." Bones explained.

Kingy's face fell a little, Molly flashed him a quick sympathetic smile and then started moving onwards again. They were only a few minutes from the village and they needed to focus.

Her stomach sank as they reached the outskirts of the village. The smell of burning was strong and the place was deserted. Someone had quite clearly got there long before they had. She crouched beside a hut, providing cover to Bones as he ran down to the charred remains of a hut which seemed to be where the tracker signal was coming from. He disappeared inside and emerged a minute later holding the tracker up as he walked back to her.

"Oh shit." She shook her head, looking around the deserted village. "This is bad."

* * *

He was looking worse and worse for every minute that passed. She was kicking herself for not taking Kingy's suggestion of trying to carry him out of there. She'd been worried about knocking the spike and damaging his leg further at the time but compared with the damage that nights in the jungle left completely untreated could do…. She wished she could go back in time and change her decision.

"Are you okay?" He asked, peering up at her from the floor of the cave they were sheltering in.

It was ridiculous really, the state he was in and he was asking if she was okay. "I'm okay. We're all going to be okay." She smiled, trying to sound optimistic. "We'll stay here. They'll find us."

He stared at her for a long moment. "I'm sorry Georgie."

"Why don't you save one big I'm sorry for when we're out of here?" She suggested.

"I meant… I meant for what I said, about you and Elvis."

Her smile faltered slightly. "Yeah well… you can't say it wasn't true."

"I suppose not." He nodded weakly. "But it's not like I haven't done the same thing."

"Boss?" She frowned, not understanding where he was going with it.

"I.. I'm just saying that it's easy sometimes…. To let your feelings cross the line." He muttered. "I think…. I think maybe I might have crossed that line when it comes to my feelings for you."

"I-" Her head snapped up at the sound of a noise outside the cave. She watched for a moment then looked back down at him. "I don't think we should be having this conversation right now."

"Maybe you should leave me here and go and get help." He suggested. He was struggling for breath and even talking was difficult.

"I'm not leaving you." She shook her head. "Besides, look how splitting up worked for us last time."

"I don't think I can move again." He shook his head.

"Well you're stuck with me Charlie." She smiled, adjusting his bandages slightly so she could check his wound.

"Is this really how it's going to end?" He whispered. She wasn't sure if he was talking to her or to himself.

"No. It's not." She answered anyway. He stared at her for a moment before squeezing his eyes shut.

* * *

They'd stopped in amongst the trees for a moment to look at the map. There was such a huge area that they were now faced with the possibility of having to search, and no real way to narrow it down the whole thing was starting to feel even more impossible than it had to begin with.

"Right… where would you go if it was you Roger?" Molly asked, looking up at him.

Roger paused, looking at the map for a moment. "The river." He nodded. "They know the river will lead down to a town."

"Right then, let's move." She agreed. "To the river."

Everyone else nodded in agreement as they altered their course to head for the river.

* * *

"Rebecca." He mumbled, looking at her with confusion as she turned his head towards her, trying to get him to drink some more water.

"Still me I'm afraid." She joked. "You need to drink some more water."

He pushed her back weakly. "Leave me."

"We just need to get you to a hospital boss. It's all going to be okay."

He shook his head. "I can't do the job any more. She says I think I can't survive without it."

"Save your strength. You'll be back home with her in no time."

"She knows." He struggled to catch his breath enough to form a sentence. "I've been hiding behind the uniform for too long. It's the only thing holding me together. Can't function without it."

"Maybe you need some help Boss." She suggested.

"She wants me to leave her and Sam." He admitted. "Doesn't want him to have to watch me self destruct. Everything I thought I had… it's all falling apart."

"Let's not talk about it right now." Georgie said eventually. "Let's just concentrate on getting you home in one piece first."

* * *

Getting down to the river was nerve wracking . They suddenly found themselves out in some big open clearings which left her feeling exposed and even more on edge than she had done in the depths of the jungle. There was nowhere for them to hide down there.

They paused on the banks of the river, getting ready to climb in. "Zero this is delta. We're heading downriver. Need you to direct the drone." Kingy instructed.

"Received." Brains confirmed. "Any sign?"

"No." Kingy answered. "Keep your eyes open, alert us to any movement."

Their progress was slow. Her boots filled with water and she tried to stop herself from thinking about what might be submerged in that river. She never had liked water. They continued to edge forward, one step at a time, weapons drawn and ready.

"Alright?" Bones mouthed as he crouched beside her.

She flinched at the sound of a helicopter over head and they all got low and shrunk back against the river banks instantly. She breathed a sigh of relief as it continued straight over them, nodding at Bones before edging forwards again.

* * *

"Rebecca?" He called, reaching for her again.

"Still me I'm afraid Boss." Georgie said quietly.

"I'm sorry Georgie." He whispered. "I… it's my fault that Elvis died. I know you miss him. I do too."

She took a shaky breath in, unable to meet his eye. "More than I ever thought possible."

"Sometimes I close my eyes and he's there." Her voice wobbled as she spoke. "It's a bit like nothing will ever make sense again."

"It will." He nodded. "I'm not saying someone will replace him, no one could ever do that. But some day you'll meet someone and things will start to feel.. normal."

"Yeah." She blinked back the tears as she nodded. "One day."

"Georgie… I…" He mumbled.

"Shhh." She interrupted him. "It's okay, you need to rest."

* * *

She was nearly up to her armpits in water as they made their way down the river. Brains stopped them all dead in their tracks. "Bandits spotted on the river bank." They all stopped and listened as he read out the coordinates. It was all a little too close for comfort.

They'd made it another hundred meters or so down river when they heard the footsteps on the riverbank above them. They all pressed up against the rocks on the river bank, trying to make themselves invisible. Her heart was in her mouth as Bones slowly pulled the knife out of the side of his bergen, preparing himself. She held her breath and waited. There was a collective sigh of relief as they heard shouting above them and then footsteps headed in the opposite direction. They stayed where they were for a moment, just in case they came back. Then Bones tucked his knife away again and they moved slowly forwards again.

"Zero, this is delta fire team." Molly said quietly. "Two gunmen leaving the vicinity. Keep eyes on them."

They'd stumbled across the caves entirely by chance. They'd spotted them from the river and Bones had suggested it was worth a look. It seemed like a logical place for them to hide if they were looking for shelter for the night.

Then they'd spotted the body, laying on the floor outside the cave and Molly's stomach had dropped. She'd rushed further in to the cave with Bones, already expecting to find Captain James and Georgie dead inside. She wasn't sure why she felt so sick at the thought- it was what they'd been expecting all along.

"Skull is smashed." Kingy called.

"Nice one Miss Marple!" Bones called back, shaking his head. He turned to Molly and muttered under his breath "like the huge hole in his skull hadn't given it away already."

"Behave." Molly sighed.

The cave was eerily quiet and empty, it was so dark Molly was struggling to see how far back it actually went.

"Weapon found." Roger called.

"Bingo." Bones smiled, pointing at the floor.

Molly stared at him for a minute, then back at the aeroplane drawn in the dirt on the ground. A smile spread across her face as she caught on. "We need a map Kingy!" She called.

They all hunched over a map in the corner of the cave, scanning it for something that matched what they were looking for. "What's this area here?" Molly asked, pointing at a bit of open area.

"Disused airfield." Roger answered.

"Disused?" Bones frowned.

Roger nodded. "It's in the disputed territory, up towards the guatemalan border."

Bones turned to Kingy. "When you did your in country brief did they show you all the satellite images of this area?"

Kingy nodded. "Pretty much."

"They're heading for the airfield." Molly smiled, nodding in agreement with Bones.

"Do you want to tell us why you think this?" Kingy asked.

"No." Bones snapped. "I don't. Let's move."

Molly rolled her eyes at him as they headed for the exit of the caves. "Has it ever occured to you just to play nice and get the brig off your back for a bit?"

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Haven't you known me long enough to know I don't do nice?"

She laughed quietly. "Yeah, forgot who I was talking to for a minute."

They'd barely been moving ten minutes when Brains spoke over the radio again. "Delta fire team this is zero. Bandits headed down river, possibly towards the airfield. Over."

"Oh for fucks sake." Bones muttered. Pausing for a moment to step over a small stream. "Will this bloody thing ever be over?"

Molly rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore him and continue in silence rather than listen to him complain more.

"Zero. Six bandits alighting boats and headed for the airfield."

"Right." Molly breathed. "We need to move boys or they're going to get there before we do."

Everyone nodded in agreement and they set off again as fast as they could go.

"Zero. Bandits entering the airfield from the west."

"Roger." Molly replied. "Headed in from the east now."

"Delta, this is zero alpha." They paused as they heard the brigadier's voice in their ears. "Approach with caution. Do not engage unless it's a last resort."

They slowly moved further in to the clearing, crouching amongst the long grass for cover as they scanned the area. "Delta this is Zero, please acknowledge my last."

"You two." Kingy hissed eventually. "Did you hear the Brig?"

Molly and Bones exchanged a glance, then looked round at Spanner and Roger. "No." The answered in unison. "We fucking well didn't."

"Look." Bones glanced round at Kingy again. "You can spend your life with you head up the bosses ass if you want King, but some of us have got work to do."

If Kingy said anything else it was drowned out by the sound of the helicopter approaching from behind them. Then the gunshots starting flying around. They watched as a young boy in a red t-shirt ran out of the building in the centre of the airfield, waving to the helicopter for a second before he fell to the ground motionless.

That was when she saw Georgie come running out of the building, trying to make her way towards the boy's lifeless body. "Get down medic!" She yelled.

Bones was muttering a constant stream of profanities to her left as they moved forward. Any chance they had of getting out of there without a firefight was well and truly gone. "Move." She ordered.

Considering how many of them there were, the bandits all seemed to be on the floor in the blink of an eye. "Stay where you are medic." Bones shouted as Georgie continued to edge towards the boy. The last thing they needed was her getting shot by accident. She ignored him and continued to move forwards.

"Jesus Christ, do you ever do as you're told?" Molly snapped. "How many more times are we going to have to come and rescue you? You'd better hope you haven't killed your Captain with that piss poor judgement of yours. I'm not sure even you can get away with that."

She was still crouched beside the boy when they reached her. "No, oh god no…" She muttered

Bones, as blunt as ever, couldn't help himself. "You're going to have to be a fucking good medic to bring him back sweetheart."

"We need Captain James medivaced out of here now." She shouted back at him.

Molly turned and ran into the building Georgie had pointed to. "Alright Charles, help's on the way." She told him, kneeling down beside him. Her fingers found a weak pulse, his skin feverish against her hands. "How are we doing on that medivac?" She asked as Bones appeared in the doorway.

"Four minutes." He answered. "He doesn't look good."

"No." Molly agreed. "A couple of days in the jungle with an open wound and no medical treatment will do that to you."

"Do you think he'll…?"

Molly shrugged, turning her attention back to the shallow rise and fall of Captain James' chest. "I don't know." She admitted.

She was just relieved he was still breathing as she'd handed him over to the helicopter crew a few minutes later.

* * *

Bones had driven them all back in to base that evening and they'd all been laughing and joking, still on the high of actually pulling off the rescue mission. The buzz had lasted all of thirty seconds once they'd parked up and the brigadier got hold of them.

Bones had managed to hold his tongue for longer than Molly had anticipated, but eventually he just couldn't help himself. Molly cringed. "I thought that saving their lives was what you-"

"Stop talking!" The brigadier yelled, slamming his hands down on the desk. "This incident will take years of diplomacy to resolve."

Bones rolled his eyes. "The mission you gave us, was to search and rescue. With all due respect…" Molly was wishing the ground would swallow her up. There was very little about Bones' tone of voice that implied any kind of respect.

"But what?" The brigadier challenged him. "And as for you, Captain Dawes. Was I not crystal clear with you about your role in all this?"

"Oh leave her out of it." Bones cut in.

"Excuse me?" There was a moment Molly thought the Brigadier might finally explode.

"We all know it was my head on a stick you were after, so fine… whatever you're going to do then go ahead but leave her out of it. It was nothing to do with her." Bones waved a hand dismissively. "We did the job you sent us in there for. I mean call me old fashioned but…"

"Captain McClyde." The brigadier shut him down, glaring at him. "Remind me, who is your regimental commander?"

"Oh you are Sir, but _fuck me_ if this is…." Bones answered. Molly was beginning to wish she'd taped his mouth shut before they'd gone in there. He never had done himself any favours, something that hadn't changed since Sandhurst. From the look that crossed Bones' face as he stopped talking he'd realised he'd dug himself an even bigger hole.

"Well." The brigadier cleared his throat. "If you're quite finished? You're dismissed Captain Dawes, thank you."

"Sir." Molly nodded, turning and heading for the door. She shot a warning look at Bones as she turned, willing him to behave himself for five minutes.

She was sitting on the steps having a well deserved cup of tea when Bones eventually emerged, he locked eyes with her for a second and she could tell he was pissed, the brigadier with him glared at him again. Two section were lined up in front of the building, standing to attention as the brigadier approached.

"As you were guys." He nodded, standing in front of them. "Right, you've got three weeks left here in Belize then it's back to the UK for regimental duties. We will monitor Captain James' recovery and possible reintroduction to the company. In the meantime, you'll have a new commanding officer." He looked over his shoulder at Bones.

Molly struggled to stop herself laughing at the look on Bones' face as they walked over to stand in front of two section. Judging by the looks on their faces they were as thrilled as he was at the news.

"Carry on Captain McClyde." The brigadier smirked, turning to leave.

"Seconded to regimental duties." Bones shook his head. "Which means I'm stuck here in charge of you shitheads because apparently you get punished for saving peoples lives these days! Well, you'd better prepare yourselves because I'm going to beast each and every one of you."

Molly nearly choked on her tea trying to stop herself laughing, worried she might actually tip him over the edge if she did. The look on his face was priceless.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

He'd been in his own little word, headphones in and cycling as hard as he could when Lane had turned up. He'd almost fallen off the bike in surprise as she stood there awkwardly in front of him. He slowly came to a stop and pulled his headphones out.

"The guys have signed a card, for you." She mumbled, holding out an envelope towards him.

"What and you couldn't find a stamp?" He raised an eyebrow. He wasn't really sure why she was there.

"Do you know how much stamps cost these days?" She laughed quietly. "Cheaper for me to come down here and hand deliver it."

There was an awkward silence between the two of them as he pretended to read what was written in the card. "You um… you didn't reply to any of my texts."

She shifted uncomfortably in front of him, looking down at the floor to avoid his gaze.

"You off on tour?" He asked when she didn't answer. He'd only just really taken in the fact she was in her uniform.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Bangladesh, training exercise."

He nodded. "I'm um… I'm going to speak to the brigadier about a medical discharge."

"Good." She nodded.

There was another long silence as he stood in front of her, studying her expression. "Why have you been ignoring me."

"Charlie, please." She sighed. "I didn't want to complicate things. Rebecca, Elvis….. Everything's just…"

He hesitated for a second. "Rebecca's gone. Taken Sam and gone back to her parents. Things were over even before I left for Belize. She couldn't even bring herself to come and make sure I was still alive when I got back."

Georgie stared at him for a moment. "And what do you think about it all?"

He shrugged. "I think she's right… and really I should've seen it coming a mile off."

Georgie looked thrown for a second. "No… look you need to be with her and try and sort things out. I'm not going to get in the way."

"People change Georgie. Rebecca and I, we're different people now. We both know it's not going to work."

She shook her head. "I can't… I just…. Well, can't."

"Why?" He demanded.

She was quiet for a minute. "You know, I really wish I'd just paid for a bloody stamp." She turned to walk away from him.

"Georgie!" He called, walking towards her.

"What?" She snapped, spinning around to face him again.

"Could you ever feel the same way? If the circumstances were different and-"

"I need to not see you." She interrupted. "I need to not see you and just forget that any of this happened. It's for the best. For both of us."

He stood and watched in silence this time as she walked away.

* * *

Molly almost couldn't believe her eyes as she saw Lane walking across the car park. "Lane? What are you doing here?" She called.

The guilty expression that crossed Georgie's face as she stopped by her car had already answered the question for her. "The um… the boys got Char- Captain James a card." She stuttered. "I said I'd drop it off."

Molly raised an eyebrow. "Don't they have post boxes in Manchester these days?"

Georgie's smile faltered slightly. "I just wanted to make sure he was okay."

Molly nodded. "You get that, when you're responsible for nearly killing someone. Does make you feel a bit guilty for a while."

"I-" Georgie had flushed bright red.

"Look." Molly sighed. "I'm not saying this to be a dick, I'm just saying what everyone's thinking and Bones and I both told the brig. You made yet another shit call, which Kingy shouldn't have allowed you to make in the first place I might add, but the bottom line is you as the medic made the shitty call that nearly ended up in a whole load of people getting killed. It's not exactly the first time, is it?"

"I... " Georgie stared at her open mouthed and unable to find any words.

"I know what happened with Elvis must have fucked you up okay, I get it." Molly continued, the way Georgie was glaring at her not enough to put her off. "Captain James does too and I can see why he feels like he's gotta cut you slack because of it. But the thing is if the two of you carry on like this you're going to end up getting yourselves or someone else killed. I'm just stating the facts here."

"Well, thank you for your insight." Georgie answered rather frostily. "But if you're quite done pulling me apart I've got to get back."

Molly struggled to stop herself rolling her eyes at her, but took a step back so Georgie could get around her. "Enjoy Bangladesh… Good luck with Bones though, because he's not going to take even half of the shit from you Captain James did."

* * *

"The medical staff around here not good enough for you or something?" Molly called, leaning around the door.

He was sitting there on an exercise bike, staring into space. He looked surprised when he turned and saw her there. "What?"

"I just ran in to Lane in the car park." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Wondered why you felt the need to bring your own medic out here." She hadn't been planning to stop and see him, she was only there to visit one of the guys from her old section. She just hadn't been able to resist the opportunity to wind him up a little.

"Oh… She was um… just bringing me a card, from two section." That same look of guilt she'd seen on Lane's face flickered across his.

"Yeah. That's what she said too." Molly shook her head. "Please, please tell me you didn't?"

"Didn't what?" He asked, climbing off the bike to stand in front of her.

"Oh god. You did didn't you?" She groaned. "You're even more fucking stupid than I thought. You do know she nearly killed you?"

"It wasn't her fault." He shook his head.

Molly folded her arms and stared at him for a minute. "And that right there, is the source of the problem."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He was defensive.

"That whatever this thing is with you and Lane is seriously fucking up your judgement." She sighed.

"Look, she's been through a lot.." He started.

"We've all been through some shit, occupational hazard mate." Molly countered. "Not a good reason for you to start sleeping with your medic."

He nearly choked. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I don't care if it's actually happened yet or not, you two have crossed so many lines…. It's a miracle nothing worse has happened yet."

He was quiet for a moment. "Things are…. Complicated."

She sighed. "So you're not going to try and tell me nothing's happened then?"

He considered his answer for a moment. "My feelings might have crossed a line." He admitted. "But you're one to talk anyway."

"You what?" She frowned at him, trying to work out what the hell he was talking about.

"You and Bones." He raised an eyebrow. "I mean the two of you are working together and I'm not sure that's exactly appropriate…"

She laughed, unable to stop herself. "Did you hit your head or something mate?"

"What?"

"Well you're talking complete and utter shit… wondered if I'd lost me touch and missed a head injury or something." She joked.

"You two at Sandhurst-" He started, looking confused.

"Ah." She realised what he was talking about. "Yeah, for all of about five minutes… and I wasn't his direct superior either. We're mates, and neither of us have ever let the other one get away with something that could've killed half a dozen people just because we've slept together"

"I…. I'm not her Captain anymore." He argued weakly.

"No." She agreed. "You're not. But if I were you I'd make sure you're really doing this for the right reasons because if it gets out it's going to come back and bite both of you."

He was quiet for a moment. "I know… but what happened with Elvis, it's…"

"All I'm going to say is there's a big difference between having feelings for someone and shared grief. If you're going to throw away everything you've ever worked for then you'd better be damn sure you can tell the difference."

"When did you get so high and mighty?" There was a faint trace of a smile on his lips as he spoke.

She laughed in spite of herself. "All them months at Sandhurst with you rupert's… I'm like a changed woman now. I mean the brig sent me in to keep tabs on Bones for god's sake, who'd have ever thought that would've happened."

"You've always been good at what you do, I never doubted it." He said, suddenly sincere. "I'm glad everything worked out so well for you."

"What's that supposed to mean? You're glad I didn't end up with Bones." She laughed.

He smiled. "Well I can't say I'm not a little bit pleased, that dick always managed to get exactly what he wanted."

"Not always." She raised an eyebrow. "You know he's still not forgiven you for that whole sword of honour shit."

"Oh I know." He laughed. "Why do you think I've spent all these years trying to keep out of his way?"

"Probably for the best." She smiled. "Anyway, I should get going… we've got places to be."

"Being deployed?" He asked curiously.

She smiled. "Need to know I'm afraid."

"You're still with SF then?"

She nodded. "The brig left Bones with your lot as punishment."

"Bloody hell. I feel sorry for them." He laughed.

"Yeah, you and me both." She laughed, turning and walking towards the door. "I'll see you around, don't be a stranger yeah? And if you ever need someone to talk to you know where I am. Promise I won't even take the piss."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Okay… I'll try not to take the piss then. Better?" She laughed, heading for the door.

"Thanks Dawes." He called after her as she walked away.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

She'd felt sick to her stomach as she stood in the shadows with Spanner and Peanut, watching as Two Section carried the coffin out to the waiting car. It was surreal, that he was gone. Bones had been one of her best friends throughout all of it, and even when she'd heard what had happened at the reception she hadn't really been able to comprehend it. All of the stupid shit they'd done together, all of the times they should've been killed and he had somehow come out without so much as a scratch on him. How was she supposed to accept he was really gone?

She'd been excited when she found out she was headed out there, thinking that she'd get a chance to have a catch up with him and find out how he was getting on with two section. She'd been laughing to herself on the flight over there, thinking about all the different ways she could wind him up about it. If she was being honest she was impressed he'd actually stuck with it and hadn't done something so ridiculous that the brigadier had no choice but to move him on.

Then when they'd landed and she'd seen the brigadier's face she'd known that something awful had happened. She'd only seen that expression a few times and one of those had been when he'd told her about Elvis. Still, the thought that something might have happened to Bones had never even entered her head until he'd said the words for the second time, having to repeat what he'd said because she just couldn't take it in. It had hit her like a physical kick in the stomach and she'd been thankful Spanner had grabbed her elbow to hold her up because for a moment she'd felt like her knees were going to give way underneath her.

She'd made her excuses and disappeared off on the pretense of going to bed so they didn't have to try and talk about it. She knew it would have hit Spanner and Peanut just as hard as it had hit her, and no doubt they'd have a drink in his memory at some point but she couldn't. Not tonight. So she'd hurried off and founded the darkest corner of the canteen possible, where no one would think to come and look for her and she could be alone with her thoughts. She made herself a cup of tea but it went cold as she sat there staring at it. All she could really think about was how she'd never actually said goodbye to him when she'd left him behind in Belize.

Her head snapped up at the sound of voices in the doorway.

"I'm requesting a transfer from two section." She recognised the voice as Georgie's.

"Why?" Squinting in the dim lighting she could just about make out Captain James standing across from her in the doorway.

"Because you didn't keep to your end of the bargain." She shot back at him. Molly cringed at the tone of voice she was using.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He demanded.

"That I told you I needed to not see you again. I meant it." Georgie sighed. "You said you were taking medical discharge."

"People change their minds all the time." He shrugged.

Georgie hesitated for a minute. "Yeah well, I'm not going to. Stay away from me. I need to get going. I'm supposed to be doing the night shift so…"

She turned and walked away, leaving Charles lingering in the doorway watching her as she went.

He stayed there for a moment, before his footsteps started to come closer. Molly froze in her seat as he went to make himself a coffee, saying a silent prayer that he wouldn't notice her there hiding in the shadows. If he did there was going to be no way to deny that she'd heard every single word.

She thought for a moment that she'd gotten away with it, he seemed to look straight through her as he glanced in her direction. Then he flinched and did a double take and she knew she'd been rumbled.

"Jesus Christ." He muttered. "You trying to give me a heart attack?"

She shrugged. "Just looking for some peace and quiet."

His face softened and he pulled out a chair so he could sit down opposite her. "You thinking about Bones?"

She chewed on her lip, considering what to say for a moment. "I'd really rather you didn't do this if you don't mind."

"Do what?" He raised an eyebrow.

"This whole thing where you tell me you're sad about what happened with Bones and try and make me feel better about it." She sighed. "We all know you hated him."

"Well I wouldn't say…" He muttered, pausing for a second to look for the right words but he came up empty.

She traced her finger around the rim of her mug. "Don't you think you've got quite enough of your own shit to sort out without coming in here trying to sort me out?"

"I didn't come in here to sort you out, I came in here to get a coffee." His tone was sharp. "I'm not quite sure what that's supposed to mean."

"What I meant was… you seem so hell bent on trying to make something happen with Georgie… Have you ever stopped and thought about what might actually happen?"

He looked thrown for a second. "I know we can't work together any more."

"That's not really what I was getting at." She shook her head.

"Well why don't you just come out and say whatever it is then? Rather than just sitting there judging me." She'd hit a nerve apparently, she could see his jaw clenching as he spoke.

"Just forget it." She sighed wearily. "We'll only be here a couple of weeks. Then we can go back to staying out of eachothers way."

"What are you doing here anyway?" He raised an eyebrow.

"They killed one of our own." She said quietly, standing up from the table and pouring her stone cold tea down the sink. "I'd say that makes finding who did this pretty personal for all of us."

He nodded. "I'm sorry."

She leant back against the sink, arms folded. "It's not me you need to be apologising to… It'll be yourself when you throw everything you've ever worked for down the shitter because you think you're in love."

"I-"

"Let me finish." She cut him off. "I'm not saying that there's definitely not something there. What I'm trying to say is that you've both been through something really awful and you can't know how much of this attachment you're feeling is to do with that. You don't need to be a medic to know what PTSD looks like. I'd hope that you'd been around long enough to see it Lane even if you can't see it in yourself."

"Excuse me?" He gaped at her.

"Goodnight Captain James." She called back over her shoulder, turning and walking out of the canteen. She was suddenly dead on her feet and desperate to get into bed.

* * *

He was standing there waiting for Lane when she arrived back the next morning. He'd spent all night laying awake, thinking about what had been said and repeating Molly's words to him over and over. He felt like he needed to clear the air with Georgie first if they were going to be able to move on from this.

"Sir." She approached him warily, stifling a yawn. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes." He nodded.

She glanced down at her uniform. "I um… I was going to get cleaned up first."

"This won't take long." He said. "I'm your CO Lane, that's all I am. Okay? I know in the past things with Elvis have probably blurred the lines and we've both said and done things we shouldn't but that stops now. I've got your transfer request on my desk. If either of us set a foot out of line I'll forward it on. Okay?"

"Sir." She nodded.

"But for now there's a lot to do here and I'd rather not have to split the section up in my first couple of days back."

She nodded in agreement. "Yes Boss."

"Good." He smiled, glancing over her shoulder. "Now I'm about to go to a briefing on the investigation so far, so if you'll excuse me."

"Can I come?" The words shot out of her mouth before she'd thought.

He paused for a moment, considering it. "Come on then." He waved, already setting off in the direction of his office where the others were gathering.

"Thanks Boss." She smiled.

* * *

"Come in." Charles motioned to Inspector Chowdhry. "I'm sure Captain Dawes won't be far behind us."

He pushed the door open and took a step inside, pausing for a second to take in the sight of Molly Dawes sat on the edge of his desk, feet miles away from touching the floor and tapping at her watch impatient. "About bloody time." She muttered, shaking her head.

"Make yourself at home Captain." Charles answered sarcastically.

"I will, don't you worry." She retorted. "Now are we going to get on with this or not?"

Inspector Chowdhry and Georgie walked in behind him awkwardly.

"Well." Inspector Chowdhry said slowly. "We've been working with the CCTV images but we have not been able ID the bomber."

"Why haven't I seen these images?" Molly asked straight away. The irritation was clearly audible in her voice.

"I don't have them with me. I can have someone send them over?" He offered.

"Thank you." Charles cut in before Molly could say anything else. "Carry on, please."

"We are working on a theory that it might be linked to Myanmar narcotics trading." The inspector explained.

"And the motive?" Molly questioned.

"Nothing solid." Inspector Chowdhry shook his head. "But it is no secret that I have been very tough with these drug runners. We believe that they are using the routes the refugees take to move the drugs. It's an entry point."

"So you think the bomb was aimed at you and they want you out of the way?" Charles asked, exchanging a quick glance with Molly.

"It is possible, yes. There is also a chance it could be some reprisal from across the border for our assistance to the refugees but it is a lot less likely." Inspector Chowdhry explained. "For now though we're working on the narcotics angle, it seems more likely."

"How can we assist?" Charles asked. Molly had gone uncharacteristically quiet and he was waiting for her to explode.

Inspector Chowdhry wandered over to the window, looking out at the activity of the base around them. "I don't even know where to start." He admitted. "The camp is at breaking point. There are so many Rohingya children, all unaccompanied."

"Barsha told me about the infant school." Georgie said. Molly's head whipped around as though she'd forgotten that Georgie was even there until she spoke. "She said that there is a spare building that could be repurposed?"

Inspector Chowdhry nodded. "The plan is to use some of it for overspill and use the rest of it as a school of sorts."

"I am more than happy to put two section on it." Charles offered.

Molly rolled her eyes at him as he spoke.

"I am very conscious of how much two section have done for us already." Inspector Chowdhry said quietly. "If it wasn't for the actions of Captain McClyde I…. Let's just say it is my intention to honour his sacrifice, starting by bringing his killers to justice."

"Well I can tell you now I've got a problem with that." Molly cut in.

"Excuse me?" Inspector Chowdhry looked rather taken aback.

Charles took a step forwards. "I think what Captain Dawes is trying to say is her team are here to assist with the investigation."

"I don't really think that will be necessary. My men are more than capable and I'm sure there are more important things that you could be doing?"

Charles grimaced as the words left Inspector Chowdhry's mouth. "You think I've got something more important to be doing than finding out who killed one of our own?" Molly demanded, jumping down off the desk. "Because I'm not about to leave you to it and let whoever did this get away because of some stupid mistake. So how about you get back to the police station and get someone to send me everything you've got right now?"

Inspector Chowdhry hesitated for a moment, glancing back and forth between Georgie and Charles, who eventually nodded. "Okay." He said slowly. "I will make sure you have the files by the end of the day."

"Thank you." Charles smiled.

"It's been a pleasure. Excuse me." Inspector Chowdhry smiled back before turning to leave.

"Get out Lane." Molly ordered, not even looking up as she sat back down on the edge of the desk, looking at something on her phone. Georgie didn't move and Molly's head snapped up a second later. "Do you ears not work or something? I said get out- it was an order not a request."

"Go and get some sleep Lane." Charles suggested.

"I don't bloody care where you go, just do as you're told and get out!" Molly snapped.

This time Georgie did as she was told, shooting a glance at Charles as she left that made her feelings about it quite clear.

"Are you alright?" Charles asked tentatively as Molly jumped up from where she'd been leaning against his desk and wandered over towards the window.

"Of course I'm not fucking alright, what kind of a question is that?" She answered, not turning to look at him.

He had to try and stop himself from smiling. "Fair point." He agreed. "Look, whoever is responsible for this, they're not going to get away with it. We'll make sure of that."

She was quiet. "Doesn't change the fact that he's gone though, does it?"

Charles took a couple of steps forwards so he was standing beside her. "No." He agreed. "It doesn't." He found his mind wandering to Elvis again. He wanted to tell her that it would get easier, but he'd be lying. Sometimes he'd almost forget, the thought would pop in to his head that he should text Elvis when he got home so they could grab a beer or something. Then it would hit him all over again and make him sick to his stomach.

"I reckon he'd be pretty pissed off about this whole thing to be honest." She laughed quietly, shaking her head.

"What do you mean?" Charles asked, turning slightly to watch her out of the corner of his eye.

She shrugged. "I think we all kinda assumed if anything happened to him he'd go all guns blazing doing something he should never have been doing in the first place. Can't quite believe the one time he was behaving himself and then actually doing as he was told something like this happened to him."

"I know me and him didn't really see eye to eye but he was good at his job." Charles said slowly. "I might not have liked him but I did respect him."

Molly laughed quietly. "I'd say didn't see eye to eye is a bit of an understatement."

"That's probably fair." Charles winced.

She was quiet for a moment. "What about you?"

"What about me?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Well last I heard you were taking medical discharge and now all of a sudden you're back here and Lane don't look too happy about it either." She turned to face him, noticing the grimace on his face.

"People change their minds?" He offered.

"They do." She nodded. "But normally for a good reason."

He ran his fingers through his hair wearily, searching for the right words. "I don't know how to function back home." He admitted. "You must know what it's like? You've been doing it for so long you just…. well, you can't do anything else. Everything's fallen apart with Rebecca, I've had to move back in with my parents and I haven't got a clue where I stand anymore. At least when I'm here I feel like I've got a purpose."

She was quiet for a moment, considering what he'd said. "Well, that's better than what I thought you might say." She laughed, shaking her head.

He frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means to start with I thought you'd only come back because you're following Lane around like some lovesick puppy."

He shook his head quickly. "Look, things might've crossed the line with her at some point but nothing ever actually happened and I've made it clear to her it's not going to either."

Molly raised an eyebrow at him. "You sure about that? Because she still seems to be walking around here like she owns the place and she certainly doesn't treat you like her commanding officer. I mean what the fuck was she doing in here? This has got absolutely nothing to do with her."

His face turned scarlet and he looked down at his boots. "She asked if she could come." He mumbled.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Jesus Christ."

"What?"

"You! You might think you've made it clear to her but there's something about this whole thing that still isn't right. Do you honestly think she would've done that with Bones or any one else?"

He was quiet for a moment, his face falling. "I'll talk to her again." He sighed. "The thing is, everything that happened with Elvis… I think we're probably past the point of a normal working relationship."

"Well then maybe it's time one of you moved on." Molly shrugged. "Either way, what happens with this investigation has absolutely nothing do with her. Two section are here to work in the refugee camp and if I even suspect she's crossed a line I'll make sure the brig knows about it. She needs to learn to follow the rules before she gets everyone killed."

"Is that not a little bit harsh?" He protested.

She shook her head. "Not even slightly."

He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. "Fine." He agreed. "I'll make it clear to her, well to all of two section."

Molly nodded. "Right then, I'll see you later. I've got work to do."

"Yeah." He yawned. "See you later."

* * *

Two section were down at the gates to the barracks when he caught up with them. They had been checking every single vehicle that entered since the explosion that killed Bones. No one was willing to take any chances that it might happen again.

"Right, listen in guys." He called. They all straightened up and turned to face him. "You're going to be helping with the re-roofing of a building to be used as a school for refugee children."

"Boss." They nodded.

He took a breath, thinking about what to say. "I have also received information about possible narcotics activity along the refugee routes so I want eyes on at all times, but no heroics. Understood?"

"Boss." They nodded again.

"Is this connected to the bomb investigation Boss?" Fingers asked.

Charles grimaced. "There's a strong possibility, yes. There's a theory that it may have been an assassination attempt on Inspector Chowdhry."

"They're not going to get away with what they did." Fingers shook his head.

"We're just here to assist in the refugee camp." Charles reminded them, looking at Fingers "The rest of it is to be left to special forces. Anything you see or here which you think could be of use is obviously to be passed on to myself or Captain Dawes, but none of you are to do anything unless you're given a direct order to. I think you can all remember what happened last time we stepped on special forces toes."

There was a collective grimace from the group as they thought back to Nigeria. "Yes boss." They agreed quietly.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Georgie was standing in amongst the buildings at the edge of the refugee camp when Fingers eventually caught up with her. She'd been there a while, watching and trying to figure it out. She'd seen the way the sex worker she treated in the clinic had looked at the police officer on the gate when she'd asked her about the drugs. That had to mean something- didn't it?

"What you doing Lane?" Fingers asked, stopping beside her and following her line of sight to the truck that was being unloaded.

"It's him… it's gotta be him." She muttered.

Fingers was quiet for a moment, she saw his face change as it clicked what she was talking about. "What? You think that copper is standing guard?"

Georgie nodded, watching as they started unloading boxes off the truck the people had come in on into the back of a waiting landrover. "Look at him. It's got to be."

"We need to go and find that special forces captain… she'll be well chuffed if we've solved it all for them. Maybe they'll change their mind and let me do selection again!" Fingers couldn't hide the excitement on her face.

Georgie watched him for a moment. They all knew how disappointed he'd been when he failed selection and ended up back with two section. As he went to walk away she grabbed his arm. "We're not going to go and tell them." She said, pulling him back. "Look he's now driving off."

They watched as the policeman climbed into the driver's seat of the Land Rover. "We'd better go get them quick then so they can follow him and-"

"Fingers." Georgie cut in. "We're going to follow him ourselves."

"Captain James said we didn't do anything unless we were given a direct order to." He shook his head.

Georgie straightened up. "I'm giving you a direct order, and as your superior I expect you to follow him." She told him. "Now get in and drive. If you don't hurry up we're going to lose him.

Fingers looked far from convinced but did as he was told.

He hesitated again as Georgie climbed into the passenger seat. "Look, that Captain Dawes will be begging you to go and join SF after you track these people down and help her find out who killed Bones." She encouraged.

After another half a second of a hesitation he started the engine and followed the path the truck had just taken. They were both quiet as they followed the truck, Georgie occasionally pointing out the direction he was going in. But by the time they'd reached the rocks the truck had disappeared around it was long gone and there was no sight of it.

"We've lost him." Fingers shook his head. "Let's just head back to the school and let special forces know, yeah?" He suggested.

Georgie shook her head. "Do you really think Bones would have just let them get away?"

"No." Fingers sighed. "But Captain Dawes said that-"

"Just shut up and drive Fingers." Georgie snapped. "No wonder you didn't pass selection."

His jaw clenched and she saw him glare at her but he did as she said and started the engine again, speeding in the direction they'd last seen the truck heading.

"Shit." He hissed. The second he drove around the rocks it became clear why they hadn't seen the truck drive away- because he hadn't. There was barely enough time to register the gun pointed at them before the shot was fired straight at the windscreen. He pulled on the steering wheel hard and spun them around to come back the way they'd come. There was a crash as he did so which he could only assume was all of the supplies for the school that they'd been carrying falling off the back of the truck. Captain James was going to kill him.

"I think we've lost him." Georgie breathed, turning to look out of the window. "You alright?"

"Yeah… I think so." Fingers mumbled. His heart was pounding and he felt sick to his stomach at the thought of having to go and explain this to Captain James.

"Oh shit, you're bleeding." Georgie said as he turned to face her.

His hand went up to his forehead automatically and came back covered in blood. "Oh." He mumbled.

"Let's get back and I'll get you cleaned up." Georgie said quietly.

* * *

"Did you or did you not see what happened to Bones last week?" Captain James snapped, pacing back and forth in front of the two of them angrily. He'd barely said a word to them for the first ten minutes after they arrived back, trying to get enough of a grip on his anger before he started speaking to them. "What the bloody hell were you thinking?"

"Sorry Sir." Fingers mumbled. Lane stayed silent, looking down at her boots.

"And what made you think that chasing after the drug runners who likely set the bomb on your own, after I _specifically_ told you not to get involved, was what you were supposed to be doing?" He stopped in front of them, looking for some kind of answer or explanation as to what the bloody hell had happened. Neither of them said a word.

"I'd say you were stupid and liabilities but I don't think that even begins to describe how stupid you were. They're targeting a senior police officer, they're not going to think twice about killing you two!"

"Sir." They mumbled.

"Get out of here and go and get cleaned up." He sighed, looking over their shoulders at the rapidly approaching form of Molly Dawes. "But judging by the look on Captain Dawes' face you haven't heard the last of this, and quite rightly so."

They both turned and walked away quickly. Charles tried to brace himself for what was inevitably coming when Molly reached him. He had contemplated getting in the truck and pretending he hadn't seen her coming for a brief moment.

"What the actual fuck?" She demanded as she stopped in front of him. "Could I have been any clearer when I told you that this investigation was absolutely nothing to do with you lot?"

He grimaced. "I know and I-"

"Where are the stupid fuckers?" She stood, hands on hips waiting for an answer. He realised as he stood there the last time he'd seen her look this angry was when they'd still been at Sandhurst and Rebecca had felt the need to point out to everyone there that Molly's dress was from New Look rather than designer and had then implied that Molly shouldn't even be there. It still made him cringe thinking about it now.

"Fingers was bleeding so I expect Lane has gone with him to clean that up." Charles told her, somewhat reluctantly. He knew they'd done wrong and he could see why she was angry but at the same time he wasn't quite sure what good Molly going in there all guns blazing was going to do.

She paused for a second. "Tell Lane to leave it. You can deal with her and I'll clean him up and I can talk to him at the same time."

Charles raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure that's really a good idea?"

"Me staying away from Lane is a very good idea right now because if I have to explain the concept of following orders to her once more…" She trailed off. "Well, I think you get the idea."

"Okay." Charles nodded. "Point taken."

* * *

"So then." Molly stretched up on her toes so she could reach to wipe the blood off the top of Fingers' head. "Would you like to tell me what the bloody hell happened?"

He winced as she wiped at the cut on the top of his head. "I don't know. I think I might've hit my head when we were driving away."

She dropped the gauze into the bag and stood in front of him. "Now is not the time to try and avoid the question, I'm not exactly in the mood to be patient with you right now all things considered. What the hell were you doing there in the first place?"

"Lane said it was a chance to impress you, after I failed selection and all that." He mumbled, looking down at his feet.

"Lane was wrong." She shook her head. "And I thought that you were smart enough to know that going against a direct order wasn't going to do anything other than piss me off and put everyone in danger."

His head shot up. "I know, and I really am sorry. But she said it was an order and I didn't know what to do."

Molly raised an eyebrow. "Are you telling me she gave you an order that was a direction contradiction to one that you'd been given by your Captain?"

He looked back down at the ground again sheepishly and didn't answer her.

"Let me rephrase this for you." Molly tried. "As far as this looks from the outside you were the one that was driving so you're the one whose responsible. And let me assure you that you're sure as hell never going to get anywhere near another go at selection after that little stunt."

He gave her a pleading look. "Please, she's my friend."

Molly shook her head. "No, she's your superior and I can assure you she's not going to be throwing herself under the bus to save your ass like you seem to think she is. I'm going to ask you again- did she order you to follow them?" She turned around to grab some steristrips for his wound.

When she turned back to face him he nodded slightly, unable to meet her eye.

"Thank you." She said softly. "Let me just stick a couple of these on here to close this up. You're alright apart from this?"

'Yes Ma'am." He nodded.

She was quiet for a moment concentrating. The second she finished he went to get up. "Hang on a minute." She stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder and sitting him back down on the bed.

"Sorry." He apologised quickly, watching as she pulled her gloves off and threw them in the bin.

"You don't have to keep apologising, it makes a lot of sense why you did what you did now." She smiled. "What I want to know is why you felt like you needed to try and impress me anyway? People fail selection all the time- it doesn't mean it's the end of the road."

He looked uncomfortable again. "It's all I've thought about doing for so long. Then when I finally got to selection it sort of never occurred to me what it might be like if I didn't pass and I had to come back to this."

A slow smile crossed her face. "Do you know what Bones would've said if he was here? He's much better at all this than me, hard to believe I know but it's true… He would've asked you what's better- apples or oranges?"

Fingers frowned at her. "I don't understand. They're not the same thing."

"Exactly." She smiled. "They're both different, neither of them are better than the other. They're just different. And just because you're having an apple today doesn't mean you can't have an orange tomorrow."

"I think I get it." Fingers said looking far from convinced.

Molly laughed. "First time he said it to me I thought he was off his rocker, and he might've been to be fair but when you think about it he had kind of got a point. What I'm getting at is yeah you failed, but it doesn't mean you'll never get the chance again. But you won't ever get another chance if you get yourself kicked out or even killed for following someones stupid ideas even when you know you shouldn't be… You've got a brain Fingers, use it next time for god's sake."

"Yes Ma'am." He smiled back at her, a look of understanding crossing his face.

"Good, now get out of here." She laughed. "You've got a roof to build or something apparently."

"Thank you." He smiled, heading for the exit to the tent.

She was tidying up when she heard the noise of someone clearing their throat behind her. She spun around to look at Charles. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long." He shrugged. "He'll live I take it?"

She nodded. "It's not too bad, don't even think he'll end up with a scar which I'm sure he'll be disappointed about."

Charles laughed. "That was really nice, what you said to him."

"So you were eavesdropping?" She stopped what she was doing and turned back to face him.

He looked guilty. "Well, not intentionally. I was coming up here to make sure you hadn't actually killed him but apparently I didn't need to worry because there's a softer side to you after all."

"You tell anyone and you'll regret it, believe me." She threatened, but there was a smile playing on her lips as she said it.

"Noted." He laughed. "So did Bones really say all that? Seems a bit unlike him."

Molly rolled her eyes. "I know you all thought he was a dick, and I mean don't get me wrong he could be a lot of the time, but he was a good guy at heart. I wouldn't be here without him." She could feel her eyes filling with tears as she spoke and she quickly turned away and pretended to be busy checking the kit in front of her so he wouldn't see.

"I'm sure he was." Charles said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She wiped a tear that had escaped as it rolled down her cheek. "Anyway, I was about to come and find you."

"Oh really?" He quickly removed his hand from her shoulder.

She nodded. "It turns out that Lane gave Fingers an order to follow that truck- told him it might impress me enough to get him back on selection."

"Are you sure?" Charles frowned.

She nodded. "Why would he lie?"

"I don't know…" He admitted. "But why would she do that after I told her not to?"

Molly snorted with laughter. "I've got a whole host of theories on that but I don't think we've got time for it right now."

"I'll talk to her when we get back." He offered wearily.

"I'll come with you." She said. "You can tell her to come to our office when we get back."

" _Our_ office?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I need somewhere to work on this… and you're the lucky sod that gets to share with me!" She laughed. "Congratulations."

* * *

Molly had already well and truly made herself at home in what was now apparently their shared office by the time he got back from the refugee camp that afternoon. She was hunched over the desk, paper spread out all over the place and a cup of tea in his hand in what he later realised was his mug that she'd stolen from his desk.

"Make yourself at home why don't you." He teased as he walked in. "How's it going?"

She groaned, rubbing at her forehead as if it might somehow soothe her headache. "I feel like I'm going to be here a while… The local police aren't exactly helpful."

He smiled sympathetically, sitting down at his desk. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Keep your lot out of my way?" She shot back a little too quickly and before she'd thought about it. She looked up in time to see him grimace. "Sorry."

"Speaking of, Lane should be here in a minute." He sighed.

Molly raised an eyebrow. "How did she take it?"

He looked sheepish again. "I might not have actually told her it was you that wanted to see her, I didn't want to have to deal with the interrogation about why."

Molly rolled her eyes at him. "That right there is your problem…. She should be worried about you wanting to talk to her, not the other way round."

"I know, I know." He muttered. "The whole things a bit of a mess."

She was about to answer him when the door to the office swung open. "You wanted to see me Char-"

"Lane. Did your mother not teach you to knock?" Molly said sharply, stopping her in her tracks.

Georgie looked completely thrown. "I…. I'm sorry Ma'am. I didn't know there was anyone in here."

"Well clearly there is, so you can wait outside until we're ready." She instructed. "And by the way Lane, it was me that wanted to see you- not Captain James."

Georgie hurriedly muttered some kind of apology, disappearing back out of the door and closing it behind her.

Molly gave a resigned sigh and hauled herself up out of her chair. If she was being quite frankly honest she just couldn't be bothered to listen to whatever kind of bullshit excuse Lane was about to try and feed her. It wasn't until she stood up that she realised Charles was laughing at her.

"Something funny?" She asked, standing beside his desk.

He looked up, lips still twitching as he tried to stop himself from laughing again. "Sorry… I'd just forgotten quite how blunt you can be. It's been a long time since we worked together."

She smiled. "Too much time working with Bones I think, he's got to me."

"You think?" He laughed. She didn't move from the end of his desk, just standing there with her arms folded watching him. "What?" He asked eventually.

"Just making sure you're done." She shook her head, still smiling slightly. "In my experience it tends to lose its effect if you give someone a bollocking and their Captain's pissing himself laughing in the corner."

He snorted with laughter again and she rolled her eyes at him. "Okay I'm done, promise."

She waited for a moment longer, just to be sure before she opened the door. "Okay, come in then Lane."

The difference in the way Lane walked through the door this time was almost enough for Molly to have a laughing fit of her own. "At ease Lane." She muttered, going back around to her desk. "Have a seat."

"Thank you." Georgie said quietly, sitting down opposite her.

Molly quickly gathered up the papers off her desk, just incase Georgie saw any of what she'd been working on and got any more ideas about going rogue. "Right then Lane, why do you think you're here?"

"Because of what happened earlier?" Lane offered.

"If you're talking about the part where you deliberately disobeyed a direct order not to get involved and then decided to go and chase down a drug runner who has already killed one soldier then yes, you're correct." Molly leant forward and rested her elbows on the desk as she waited for Lane to say something.

"That's not quite what happened." Georgie shook her head, shifting uncomfortably in her chair and glancing over at Charles.

"He's not going to save you if that's what you're thinking." Molly said, causing Georgie to turn back to face her again. "Why don't you explain to me what happened if that's not right?"

Georgie went quiet for a moment. "Finger's wanted to follow them- he was trying to prove himself to you. I couldn't change his mind so I thought I'd better go with him rather than let him go off on his own."

"So this was all his idea?" Molly asked, locking eyes with Charles for a moment. Georgie nodded. "And at no point did you think maybe you ought to call this in?"

"I should have." Georgie said quietly. "But it all happened so fast and I was concentrating on trying to get him to stop."

"Anything else you'd like to tell me about this or are you finished?" Molly asked, watching Lane's face as she was quiet for a moment.

"No, thank you."

"Okay then." Molly nodded. "I have to say I'm confused because from what you're saying this was all down to Fingers, yes?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Georgie nodded.

"So at no point did you tell him that you were giving him an order as his superior and you expected him to follow it?" Molly continued. Georgie's eyes went wide. "And you didn't suggest to him that if he were to find the people responsible for the bomb it might impress me enough to get him another go at selection?"

"No." Georgie said quietly, shaking her head. "I didn't." She turned in her chair to look at Charles again.

"I'm over here Lane." Molly snapped, causing her to turn around again. "I'll be honest, I'm not that bothered by the ins and outs of what happened. What's really bothering me is your complete inability to follow any kind of order."

"I-"

"I'm not finished yet Lane." Molly held a finger up to stop her talking. "I've worked with you three times- each of those times there has been some kind of incident as a result of you disobeying an order of some kind that's ended up with someone getting hurt. Can you see how that might cause me a bit of concern? Because you're the common factor in all of these, not Fingers."

"I'm sorry Ma'am. It won't happen again." Georgie said quietly.

"No you're right, it won't. Because believe me when I say if you put so much as a foot out of line I will be personally responsible for the end of your career. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am."

Molly nodded. "You're dismissed."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Look Georgie." Charles sighed wearily. "If they have released the policeman you and Fingers saw then it probably just means they've already interrogated him."

"But he's our only link to the drugs traffickers and the perpetrators of the bomb!" Georgie argued. "They know how important this is- they'd never just release him!"

"We can't be certain that he was involved." Charles shook his head. "Inspector Chowdhry said he would investigate, and he has. Doesn't mean the man is guilty."

"He is guilty! I saw him with my own eyes!"

"Lane." Charles snapped. "This is nothing to do with you anyway, you'll just have to trust that the people who are investigating this know what they're doing." He got up from his desk and walked over to put some papers that had been sent over on Molly's desk for her.

He heard Georgie's footsteps following him. "I didn't want to tell you before because I didn't want to jump to conclusions. When I was at the border I saw Chowdhry receive something off a guy. He told me it was the health records for the refugees. Barsha said that there aren't any records. I think he's lying."

He stood with his back to her for a moment. "And why didn't you mention this at the time Lane?" He asked, turning to face her.

"I didn't think anything of it." She shrugged.

He struggled to stop himself rolling his eyes at her. His patience was definitely wearing thin. "Okay, well I will mention it to Mol-... Captain Dawes. You're not to act on this in anyway- understood?"

"Yes boss." She nodded.

"Okay, dismissed." He waved towards the door.

"Thank you, Sir." She smiled and then quickly left.

It was only a few seconds before the door swung open again. "What did she want?" Molly asked, walking in and flopping down on her chair.

Charles paced slowly back and forth in front of her. "I think we might have a problem." He grimaced.

"You've got that face on, what the hell happened?" Molly asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Lane thinks that Chowdhry might be lying about the drugs traffickers." He admitted.

She snorted with laughter.

"I'm not sure it's funny?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Trust me, I'm going to have to laugh or I'm going to lose the will to live here. Does she think I'm shit at my job or something? Maybe I should come and be your medic and she can come and run this investigation since she's determined to stick her nose in."

"I did try and remind her that it's got nothing to do with her." He offered.

"I'll do more than remind her if she does it again." Molly muttered. "Come on then, what's led the great detective Georgie Lane to this conclusion?"

"She saw Chowdhry being given a package by someone from the Myanmar side of the border. He told her it was the health records for the refugees but his wife said there are no records. And the policeman that Lane and Fingers thought was involved has been released already." He was almost reluctant to tell her, knowing full well what she was going to have to say about this.

"And when was this exactly?" She asked, sitting up straighter in her chair.

"I'd have to check with her. It sounded like it might've been when they first got here?" He offered. He hadn't really thought to ask if he was being honest, he'd been so thrown by the fact that Lane was standing there in front of him _again._

"And she's just decided to mention this now?"

"Do you think there might be some truth in it?" He asked. He'd been expecting Molly to shoot the idea down instantly but the look on her face had him worried that there might actually be some truth behind it.

"Well…." She said slowly. "I haven't been able to exclude it." She got up from the desk and grabbed the keys to the Land Rover off his desk.

"Where are you going?" He frowned.

"To talk to Chowdhry." She said, as though it was the most obvious thing ever. "You coming?"

He hesitated for a second, then realised if he didn't go she was going on her own. "Yeah, Okay."

* * *

Inspector Chowdhry was in the entrance of the police station when they arrived, giving instructions to his men. "I want everything searched, no excuses. Any problems you come to me."

"Inspector Chowdhry!" Molly called, striding towards him so quickly that Charles almost struggled to keep up. He'd never quite managed to figure out how someone so tiny could move so quickly.

"Captain Dawes, Captain James." Inspector Chowdhry nodded in greeting as he turned to face them. "Just the people I wanted to see, please come with me."

"So then." Molly said, deciding to just get to the point as they followed him up the stairs. "Is there any progress with the investigation?"

"We've established a police cordon outside the refugee camp. We're searching all the trucks that come in and out."

"Two section can help with that." Charles chipped in.

Inspector Chowdhry paused for a second. "Excellent. Thank you… please, have a seat." He waved them into his office.

"So that officer of yours, Ahmed." Molly asked. "Did you manage to get any intel out of him about the trafficking? I'd quite like to speak to him myself." She didn't sit down and Charles stood awkwardly beside her as she squared up to Inspector Chowdhry.

"Not yet. He's refusing to talk, but we will get there." He answered.

"So he's in custody then?" Molly probed.

"Of course." He nodded.

"Good, perhaps I'll head over there to speak to him this afternoon then." Molly suggested. "Captain James will come with me I'm sure."

"That would be highly irregular Captain." Inspector Chowdhry answered, glancing up at her. "As I am sure you're aware."

Molly paused for a beat. "Well, I'll leave you to your work. Please do keep us informed." She turned to leave, locking eyes with Charles.

She paused as they climbed back into the Land Rover and turned to Charles. "Well, he's full of shit." She sighed. "Looks like we've got a problem- Lane might've actually been right about something for once."

* * *

"Everyone in the comms room, ten minutes." Charles barked as the passed two section on their way back towards their office.

"Everything Okay Boss?" Kingy asked.

"I'll fill you in a bit." Charles answered, jogging for a stride to catch up with Molly again.

He was still trying to process what this all meant as he stood in front of two section and Molly's team with her ten minutes later. "Change of plans." He said slowly. "We're going back up to the camp and setting up a cordon. All vehicles entering must now be searched. No exceptions."

"What about the bomb investigation boss?" Fingers asked.

Charles glanced at Molly. She cleared her throat and stepped forwards. "The following does not leave this room, understood?" She looked around at all of them. "As you all know we believe the bomb that killed Bones was planted by drugs traffickers targeting a senior police officer. We now suspect that the police officer himself is stone walling the investigation into the bombing and may be colluding with the traffickers. High commission are currently seeking an arrest warrant for the officer. Until that happens keep eyes on for anything suspicious but no one is to do anything that might raise the alarm."

"Understood?" Charles asked.

"Yes boss." They chorused.

He looked at Lane. "Not a word to Barsha. Keep her in your sights though."

"Boss." She nodded.

* * *

"Right." Molly arrived next to Charles at the refugee camp a few hour later, her expression grim. "We've got the warrant through for his arrest but he's gone awol. He's not here, not at the station and we can't get hold of him."

Georgie was in earshot and turned around. "He was here about ten minutes ago. He had an argument with Barsha and left very quickly."

"He's been tipped off." Charles sighed, voicing what everyone else was thinking.

"Shit." Molly muttered.

"He's bent, isn't he?" Kingy asked. The whole of two section were now looking expectantly at Molly and Charles, waiting for some kind of instructions.

"Well… innocent people don't tend to go awol." Charles nodded. He glanced over at Molly. "What do we do now?"

She glanced back at two section. "I don't know." She muttered under her breath before turning back to everyone else. "You lot stay here, carry on searching the vehicles. I'll let you know what the plan is as soon as I've sorted it all out." She turned to walk away, gesturing at Charles to follow.

"So what is the plan?" He asked.

"I haven't got one." She admitted reluctantly. "Spanner and Peanut are out looking for him but they haven't got anything. There's not much we can do without any leads to work from." She pulled at her plait in frustration.

"Well, he can't just disappear forever?" Charles offered. "He's got a wife and a kid. He's going to try and contact them eventually."

"Yeah." She nodded. "But how many more people are going to get killed in the meantime?"

He squeezed her arm, giving her a sympathetic smile. "I can get Lane to speak to his wife, see if she knows anything?"

He could see the conflict going on in Molly's head as she considered it. Eventually she nodded. "If he gets across the border into Myanmar we'll never see him again. Just make sure she engages her brain this time. I can't imagine she's going to help us arrest her husband."

"Either we're going to get him or the drug runners." Charles shrugged. "That ought to be enough incentive for her."

"Okay, let me know what happens. I'm going to catch up with Spanner and see what we can find." She said, turning to go back to the landrover.

"Be careful." He called softly as she climbed in and shut the door behind her.

* * *

He still hadn't heard anything from Molly hours later when they got back to the base. He'd been distracted by the fact that Rebecca had called him and he hadn't realised how late it had got until Georgie turned up.

"Sorry Boss, Barsha won't talk. She says she doesn't know anything and I think she might actually be telling the truth."

"Oh… okay." He mumbled.

"What's happened?" She asked, coming to sit beside him where he was leaning on the edge of his desk.

"Nothing… everything's fine." He muttered. "I um… I've just had a call from home. That's all."

"Is everything okay?" She asked. "What's happened?"

He hesitated. This was his problem, and the rational part of him knew it. He was as guilty of blurring the lines between the two of them as she was. He absolutely shouldn't be having this conversation with her but yet he found himself telling her about Rebecca's decision that they should get divorced. He just needed to talk to….. someone. Elvis was gone and she was the next best thing.

"She's just called?" Georgie asked.

He nodded. "Bad timing right? Our relationship needs putting out of its misery apparently."

Her hand inched closer to his until they were brushing each other. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"She's right…. but that doesn't make it easier to hear. But it's done now, finished. She's free to move on or whatever it is she's so desperate to do without me." He sighed. "I don't know…. it's just…. it's just a lot to take in."

"I bet." She said softly, her hand coming to rest on his.

"Guess what!" Molly's voice in the doorway sent them both scrambling to put some distance between each other. Charles already felt guilty about what had happened as Molly stood and looked at him. "Chowdhry's been picked up. Boys caught him headed for the border!" She looked excited.

"Excellent!" Charles smiled, grabbing his things off his desk. "Let's move then."

"Not you Lane." Molly called back over her shoulder as they set off. "Everything okay?" She asked Charles quietly as they walked away.

He nodded, his expression rigid. "Of course."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as she climbed into the driver's side but didn't press it any further. They had other things to concentrate on.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

It was absolutely pissing it down the next morning. She'd been up at the crack of dawn, the noise of the rain hammering down on the roof relentlessly having woken her up. She'd seized the opportunity to try and get her head around what was happening with the investigation before she went back to see Chowdhry again. She'd been on her way back out to get yet another cup of tea when she'd spotted Charles standing at the end of the row of offices sheltering from the rain, coffee in hand and staring at something in the difference. As her eyes followed his line of sight she quickly realised who it was he was watching.

Lane smiled and waved at him as she climbed into a truck, presumably headed back to the refugee camp.

Molly hesitated for a second before walking over to stand next to him. "Morning." She smiled when he turned to look at her.

"Morning." He replied, looking at her suspiciously. "Are you alright? Did you need me for something?"

"I was actually coming to ask you if you were okay." She said slowly.

His eyes wandered down to his boots and he shifted uncomfortably. "Don't be ridiculous…. You don't do feelings." He joked, trying to brush her off. "I'm fine."

She laughed quietly. "No, you're right I don't. But I'm not an idiot, I clearly interrupted something with Lane yesterday and now you're standing here looking like some kind of lost sheep."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Cheers for that, Dawes." He took a sip of his coffee. "If that's all then I should probably get on."

She shook her head. "Not until you tell me what's going on." She insisted. "It's not to do with Lane, is it?" She tried to ignore the feeling the idea of him and Lane together gave her. She didn't even want to think about what that might mean.

"It's fine." The exasperation was clear in his voice. "I'd forgotten how irritating you can be."

"Well, then you'll know I'm not going to give up until you spill so you might as well just get it over and done with." She joked.

He was quiet for a moment before looking back up at her. "I finished things with Rebecca." He said quietly.

"Oh." She didn't know what to say to that one.

"Well, I mean I knew it was coming but it wasn't like official if you know what I mean? I don't even know why I feel weird about it, we both decided it was for the best." He shrugged.

"You've been together a long time. It's going to feel strange for a while." She offered.

"Yeah, I guess." He sighed wearily.

"And you told Lane about this I'm guessing?" She raised an eyebrow.

A look of guilt flashed across his face. "She walked in just after Rebecca phoned, I didn't really mean to I just…. I don't know, needed to tell someone?"

"I know." She said softly. "But maybe telling Georgie you were back on the market might not have been the best idea you've ever had…. All things considered and that?"

He shook his head. "I made it clear to her that I'm her Captain and that's all."

Molly raised an eyebrow at him. "If you say so! Not my problem, I'm off to get a cuppa."

"Cheers for that." He laughed, shaking his head.

She started to walk away, turning back as she headed towards the canteen. "Go and build a school or whatever it is you lot do all day…. Some of us have got real work to do!"

* * *

He'd been off to do exactly what she'd said, but two section had come back from the camp and thrown something of a spanner in the works when Lane had announced that the water had tested positive for cholera. All thoughts of anything else were suddenly forgotten, the situation had become even more grim than it had been already.

"Okay." He said, standing in front of two section. "What we need to do is shift any potentially contaminated water away from the buildings." He glanced at Lane who was standing beside him.

"We need to get on top of this properly now, I don't want any kids playing in or near the water." She added. "I am going to isolate the orphanage."

"Fresh water butts have been requested but the rain will be carrying contaminated water to all of the areas. If you have any symptoms at all or feel even slightly unwell you let me know and go and see Lane straight away, okay?" Charles continued.

"Don't thousands of people die?" Richards asked.

"Potentially, yeah." Georgie nodded.

"What we do in the next few hours will determine whether this is a contained outbreak or it becomes an epidemic." Charles explained, the faces looking back at him were anxious. There wasn't anything he could say to reassure them, it was going to be a difficult time there was no doubt about that. "Either way, there will be graves to be dug." He added quietly.

"Boss." They nodded.

"Right then, lets go." Kingy instructed, stepping forwards.

After a moment it was just Charles and Georgie standing there. "Is there any news on Chowdhry?" She asked, turning to face him.

He opened his mouth, almost about to tell her without thinking about it. "I can't tell you anything Lane, you know that." He said, managing to stop himself just in time.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked. "I need to let Barsha know what's happening."

He shook his head. "No you don't, Lane. This has nothing to do with you, you're here to work in the clinic and not on the investigation. Don't make Captain Dawes remind you of that again, for both our sakes please."

She muttered something under her breath that he didn't quite catch. "Boss." She nodded.

"Good, you'd better get going then. I suspect you'll be busy today." He dismissed her.

Molly was still at her desk when he got back to his office, only glancing up quickly as he walked in. She looked up as he sat down and sighed heavily. "You look happy." She commented.

"Cholera outbreak in the refugee camp." He told her.

"Shit."

"Yeah." He grimaced, running his hands through his hair. "That just about sums it up."

Her phone rang loudly. "Sorry I need to get this." She sighed.

He smiled and nodded.

"Hello? No, I'm not saying it won't be a Bangladeshi police operation. I'm just offering British military assistance…. yes, of course you're capable of transporting a prisoner on your own… look there's quite a lot of people with a vested interest in making sure Chowdhry doesn't get there…. There's less chance of an attack if you're assisted by an armed unit…. okay, yeah. Thank you." She hung up the phone and slammed it down on her desk.

"You look like you're having a great day too." He joked.

She pulled a face at him. "They're not exactly keen on the idea of letting us get involved. They're moving him and I'm just a bit worried that someone might try something stupid- I'm sure they'd much rather he didn't get anywhere safely and then he can't tell us anything about who they are and what they're up to."

Charles nodded. "I can see your point."

"But anyway…. they've begrudgingly agreed that we can go with them so at least that's something." She stood up and grabbed her vest and started strapping herself in.

"I'm glad." He smiled. He stood up and came over to help her as she fumbled with one of the straps that had become caught, smoothing it out and then fastening it tightly for her.

Afterwards he stood there, just ever so slightly too close with his fingers still lingering on the strap around her waist. "Stay safe." He reminded her.

She nodded. "Let me know, if you need another medic to help at the camp. I can imagine it's going to be rough up there and I'm happy to try and help if I can?" She offered.

"Thanks Molly."

"Oh it's Molly now is it?" She teased. "You wanna be careful, people might start thinking you actually like me."

He rolled his eyes. "Noted, _Dawes._ "

"Have a good day!" She called as she walked out of the door.

* * *

She'd felt uncomfortable from the get go about the route the Bangladeshi's had insisted on using to move Chowdhry. There were so many weak points she'd lost count and she wasn't convinced that their presence alone was going to be enough to deter anyone who might be planning something stupid to try and stop Chowdhry from having the opportunity to talk.

She'd tried to point this out to the police officer in charge when they'd arrived, but he hadn't even let her finish her sentence, just ushering her through into the cell so that she could confirm that Chowdhry was fit to travel. He'd taken a beating somewhere along the line, although he had tried to insist he'd fallen off a bed. She couldn't work out if it was from someone else on the inside who was involved in the drugs trade trying to keep him quiet or if it was just another police officer who had a problem with what he'd done. Either way, there were a whole load of people out there with a reason to hate him and she couldn't say she blamed any of them.

It was textbook, Spanner had even said it out loud at one point but she'd quickly told him to shut up so he didn't jinx it. That uneasy feeling was still there, gnawing away in the pit of her stomach as she looked at Chowdhry, who was sitting in the back of their truck, a blanket draped over his head and handcuffed to Peanut. Thankfully he'd kept his mouth shut so far because the last thing she wanted to do was have to listen to him make excuses about why he'd done it.

"Boss." Spanner's voice was quiet, but she could hear from his tone there was something not quite right.

She twisted in her seat so she could see through into the front of the truck. "What's wrong?"

"It's really busy down here, roadworks ahead. It doesn't feel right." He said quietly, his grip on the steering wheel tightening subconsciously.

The traffic rolled to a stop as the lights ahead of them changed to red. She scanned the groups of people either side of them, most appeared to be trying to sell something. "They don't know which vehicle he's in." She said slowly. She was feeling more and more relieved she'd insisted the Bangladeshis take one of their own men as a decoy with every second that passed. "Let's just try and keep moving?"

The lights changed to green and before Spanner could pull away a car cut in front of them, separating them from the police car in front. "Shit." Spanner hissed.

"There's one behind too." Peanut called.

Molly glanced behind to see there was a truck that had pulled out in between them and the police car that was following. "Just keep moving, keep your eyes open." She instructed, glancing up at the bridge they were about to pass under as they edged further forward.

The crash on the roof as they came out of the other side of the bridge scared the life out of everyone. "What the fuck was that?" Spanner called, putting his foot down as the traffic cleared on the other side of the bridge.

"I can't see anything. Something thrown from the bridge?" Peanut offered.

Molly nodded, trying to decide what to do next. "You're going to have to pull over." She said reluctantly. "We need to see what it was."

"You sure about this?" Spanner asked, glancing over his shoulder at her.

"No." She admitted, shaking her head. "But we haven't got a lot of choice, have we?"

"Okay." Spanner nodded, slowing the truck down. "I'll pull over here."

Molly scrambled through into the front. "You two stay here, I'll climb up and have a look."

"Boss." They both agreed.

She scrambled out of the door and up onto the roof of the truck with her heart in her mouth, half expecting to get shot at any second. The second she reached the top it became apparent what the noise had been. "Oh shit." She mumbled, sliding back down again so she could talk to Spanner. "It's that other copper, the one they thought was involved."

"Dead?" Peanut called.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Had his tongue cut out."

"Get him down and carry on?" Spanner suggested.

"Yeah, quickly." She agreed.

It was a bit of a struggle to get him down and took much longer than she would've liked. Eventually with the help of a couple of the police officers from the car behind them they loaded his body into the back of the truck and shut the doors. She breathed a sigh of relief as they started moving again.

"I didn't need the warning." Chowdhry said quietly.

He took her by surprise, she leant forward and pulled the blanket off his head so she could see him. His eyes immediately went to the body of his friend on the floor. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"I don't need my tongue cut out. I'm not going to make a statement." He shook his head.

She paused for a second, biting her tongue to stop herself saying anything stupid. "Well… I hope it was worth it." She sighed, leaning forwards to pull the blanket back down again.

It didn't take that long to get to the police station once they got moving again, but each second seemed to last a lifetime. It wasn't until she watched Chowdhry walk into that cell and the door slid closed behind him that she allowed herself to take a breath. Although, she was conscious of the fact that he wasn't exactly safe in there either.

She turned to the police officer she'd been talking to him earlier. "There's no one in here who might do something stupid?" She asked, her voice hushed as she glanced around at the officers standing guard.

He shook his head. "There will be someone on duty that I trust at all times."

She raised an eyebrow. "How do you know which ones you can trust?"

* * *

The canteen was almost deserted by the time Molly eventually made it back and had got as far as going to get a cuppa. There was only one other person in there, who she almost immediately realised was Georgie, sitting hunched over at a table staring in to an empty mug. She'd walked over and sat down opposite her before she'd even thought about what she was going to say.

"You're up late, Lane." She commented, watching as a look of surprise crossed Georgie's face.

"Night shift in the clinic." She explained.

"How is it going?" Molly asked. "Captain James told me there's a cholera outbreak?"

"It's not good. Nowhere near enough medication for everyone." Georgie said quietly. "Not that you really care anyway."

"And what makes you say that?" Molly asked, raising an eyebrow.

A look of uncertainty crossed Georgie's face again. "I don't know, you just don't come across as the sort of person who cares about other people."

"I can be harsh when I need to be, doesn't mean I don't care at all." Molly answered, sipping at her tea. "Can I ask you a question?"

"I expect you're going to anyway."

Molly smiled. "Yeah… How old are you?"

"Twenty seven."

"Exactly… So you've still got your whole life ahead of you."

"What?" Georgie looked confused, her fingers going automatically to the ring hanging from a chain around her neck.

"You've still got your whole life ahead of you." Molly repeated. "But you won't have if you get yourself killed doing something stupid, this is what I keep trying to say to you. You can have a career, you can leave and have hundreds of kids if that's what floats your boat… the point is that you can still do whatever it is that you want to do- but if you get yourself kicked out for disobeying orders or you get yourself killed then you won't be doing any of that."

"Thanks… I think." Georgie sounded far from convinced.

"Look, I've been thinking about this a lot, and I think I know what it is. You looked up to Elvis, a lot of us did. He was like this hero that was always running around and doing what needed to be done with no regard for his own safety and it seemed to work for him… up until it didn't. You're not him Georgie, you don't need to try and be. You're a bloody good medic by all accounts but if you carry on like this you're just going to end up getting hurt or worse and you know that's not what he would've wanted."

A tear rolled slowly down Georgie's cheek but she didn't say anything.

"You loved him, we all know that. But the bottom line is Georgie, he's not here any more. We all miss him, you especially I'm sure. But at some point you have to accept that he's not here anymore and start trying to move on with your life before it's too late... But that doesn't mean throwing your career away over something stupid either."

"I wish he was still here, I miss him." Georgie said quietly, wiping at her eyes. She looked up at met Molly's eyes for the first time since she'd sat down.

"Yeah, I do to." Molly agreed. "But if he was here he'd be bollocking us all for letting you go off the rails so…. Since the shouting and telling you to get your shit together didn't work, I thought I'd tell it to you straight… But anyway, I'm not very good at this stuff and I've probably said more than I should've done… I'm off to bed, I hope it goes okay tonight."

"Thanks." She heard Georgie say quietly as she walked away.

* * *

It was really late by the time he managed to get his hands on the medication that high commission had promised and he ended up driving it straight to the refugee camp himself so he could give it to Lane, knowing how urgently it was needed.

He stood for a moment, watching Georgie through the doorway as she moved around checking on the patients the occupied the now full medical centre. "Lane." He called, waving her over.

"Boss?" She came through, pulling the mask off her face and taking off her gloves and apron.

He stood in front of her awkwardly. He knew what he needed to say to her, he just didn't quite know how to say it without making the whole situation even more awkward than it already was. "High commission came good. I brought them straight here." He said, offering her the box he was tolding.

She took it from him. "Thank you."

He wondered for a moment if she was going to say something else as she stood in front of him, making no attempt to move. "How is it in there?" He asked eventually, feeling like he needed to fill the silence.

"Grim." She sighed. "They're not strong enough to fight off the infection."

"Let me know, if it's getting too much? You shouldn't be having to take all of this on on your own."

She was quiet for a moment. "Sometimes I don't realise quite how much I depend on you Charlie." She said softly.

He shifted uncomfortably, aware this was taking a dangerous turn. "Well, we all depend on each other…. But I'd better get going, let me know if you need anything though."

She nodded and he turned to walk away but he'd barely taken two steps before he heard her behind him. "Charlie, why can't you just-"

He turned to face her. "What?"

"I… I don't know." She faltered.

"Georgie." He sighed. "I've told you, I'm your Captain and that's all. I know that with everything that's happened with Elvis and me and Rebecca…. Well it's probably just that we both got a bit confused, it has to stop now."

"What if this is our chance to be happy again?" She whispered.

He shook his head, taking a big step back to put some distance between them. "I've got to go."

* * *

Charles was standing outside the medical centre waiting for Kingy the next morning when he saw Ruby stagger out of the door. He looked absolutely terrible and he couldn't remember if he'd looked that rough the night before or not. The thought was quickly brushed aside as Ruby stumbled and grabbed the wall for support. He started running towards the younger soldier. "You alright Ruby? Take a seat. That's it." He guided him down until he was sitting on the step.

"I thought… I thought it was the food." Ruby mumbled.

Charles glanced around, looking for someone to come and help him. "Dawes!" He shouted, feeling the relief flood through him as he saw her walking past talking to Spanner. She spun around at the sound of her name and immediately started jogging towards him.

"Hi Ruby, how're you feeling?" She asked, putting her hands on either side of his head. "Look at me."

"I thought it was the food." He mumbled. "I'm sorry, I've let everyone down…"

"You haven't let anyone down." She reassured, glancing over at Charles.

"Could it be cholera?" He asked, his voice hushed.

She locked eyes for him with a second, long enough for him to know the answer. "Come on, let's get you back to barracks and we can set up a temporary isolation unit there until we know for sure. Are you alright to drive Captain James?"

"Yeah, of course." He agreed quickly. "Come on Ruby, let's get you up. Nice and steady." He took one side, Molly getting the other and they walked slowly towards the waiting land rover, struggling between the two of them to keep Ruby on his feet.

Charles glanced in the rear view mirror as he drove, meeting Molly's eye for a second as she sat in the back with Ruby's head rested on her shoulder. "Thank you."

"For what?" She asked, surprised. "I hate to break it to you mate but I'm just doing my job."

"For being here." He said softly. He glanced at her in the mirror again just in time to see the face she pulled. "Don't make that face at me, you know what I mean." He rolled his eyes.

She was quiet for a moment, and when she did speak her voice was so quiet he only just heard her. "Yeah, I think I do."

* * *

"How's he doing?" Charles asked when Molly walked back into their office a couple of hours later.

"He'll be okay, I've left him with an orderly for now." She smiled.

"Thank god." He allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Not why I'm here though, I don't suppose you've got a free hour or so have you?" She asked.

"For you Dawes, anything." He teased. "What's going on?"

"I've finally managed to get them to agree to let me question Chowdhry since the local police aren't getting anywhere with him. I'm taking his wife up there to see if she can get him to talk, wondered if you might come with me? I think he likes you more than me." She looked at him hopefully.

"Well, how can I refuse an offer like that?" He laughed. "When are you going?"

"Now?" She smiled, holding the keys out in front of her and looking at him hopefully.

"Okay then."

* * *

Charles sat down beside Molly, across the table from Inspector Chowdhry and Barsha when they reached the police station. He kept glancing in her direction out of the corner of his eye, waiting for her to say something. He'd got absolutely no idea what her plan was as far as this went, the fact they'd had to go and pick Barsha up had meant she couldn't fill him in on the drive over there. Given the fact she was just sitting there in silence staring at the man she'd been so desperate to question he was starting to wonder if there was actually a plan at all.

"If this is about a confession then you don't need to bother." Chowdhry said eventually, looking back and forth between Charles and Molly.

Molly shook her head. "I'm not here to try and force a confession out of you. I just think you need to know what your options are, and what the consequences of those options might be."

"Look I understand the consequences of.." Chowdhry waved a hand dismissively.

Molly cut in. "For your family… Don't try and tell me Barsha didn't know. People have seen her at the refugee camp paying for supplies with large amounts of cash which we know are proceeds from your involvement in the drug trade. So how about we cut to the chase and you just tell me why?"

"How are we supposed to help you if you won't help yourselves?" Charles added.

"You're saying we wanted it to be like this?" Chowdhry shook his head. "Of course we knew how it was going to end up, that's why I tried to finish it."

"And that's why they tried to kill you?" Molly asked.

"When I took over there was this expectation that I'd take a bribe, turn a blind eye." Chowdhry continued.

"So you decided to carry on that fine tradition did you?" Molly asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It's all so black and white with you lot." Chowdhry shot back. "I said no."

"So what then?" Charles pressed. "They threatened you? Threatened your family?"

"If you think this is about us taking the easy option and taking the money because we were greedy then you couldn't be further from the truth." Chowdhry snapped. "There was this terrible pneumonia epidemic sweeping through the camp. Hundreds had died, we had no medicines. Barsha was desperate and I was knocking on the door of every business in the district begging them for donations. And then they approached me again. All I had to do was take one package across the border and we would have enough money to buy all of the medicines we needed. I told Barsha we'd been given the money from a factory owner."

"Right, and then what happened?" Molly asked when he paused.

"It became a weekly transaction." He sighed. "I'd pick up the drugs and tell Barsha we had another donation. Every penny of it went into the refugee camp."

Molly turned to Barsha. "And what about you? I'm supposed to believe you didn't have a clue about any of this?"

Barsha took a deep breath and paused for a moment. "I had started to suspect, but to be honest I didn't want to know."

"But you knew?" Charles asked.

"But…" Molly cut in quickly before Barsha had a chance to answer. "If you didn't know about what was going on and your husband gave a full confession… gave the authorities the names they need to close down the trade…"

Her words hung in the air for a moment before Chowdhry spoke. "If I confess I want your word that Barsha isn't going to go to jail."

"Well if she didn't know any of this was happening then there's no reason why she'd go to prison, is there?" Molly said.

* * *

"Right, we'll take you back to the barracks with us Barsha. You'll be staying there for a while until this is all sorted. We need to make sure she's there before it becomes common knowledge Chowdhry is going to sign an confession." Molly said as they walked out of the police station.

"What about the outreach project?" Barsha asked.

"Well, you can still go there." Charles told her. "But it'll have to be with us, you mustn't put yourself in any vulnerable situations until this is all sorted out."

"We'll arrange for someone to collect your son and bring him to you at the barracks." Molly said.

"Georgie." Barsha said quickly. "If I can't go and collect him myself, please can you send Georgie? He knows her and he won't be too frightened."

Molly hesitated, looking at Charles who nodded. "I'll speak to Corporal Lane as soon as we get back." He suggested. "Let's get going though."

"Thanks." Molly mouthed.

* * *

"Hello Zero Alpha, this is Alpha One Zero. We have been pursued by a suspect vehicle. Seems to be resolved. We're heading back now." Molly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Georgie's voice coming over the radio.

She locked eyes with Charles for a moment, his face mirroring the look of concern on hers. "Alpha One Zero, this is Zero Alpha. Can you confirm this is all resolved?" She asked.

The silence from the radio seemed to drag on for an eternity as they waited for a reply.

"This is Alpha One Zero, the vehicle has been ambushed. Primary target is safe. On the move looking for shelter. Current location is 234 89. Wait out."

"Roger that." Molly replied, trying to keep her voice calm. She put the radio down and turned to Charles. "Shit."

"I'll go get two section." He said quickly, already on his feet. She nodded in agreement, the two of them nearly colliding in their haste to get out of the door.

It was only a couple of minutes later that she jumped in the back of the truck behind two section, Charles shouting at them all to get a move on. She was kicking herself for letting Lane and Richards go and pick the child up in the first place. She should have sent Spanner and Peanut, she wasn't quite sure why she'd let herself get persuaded by Barsha.

They arrived at the location in a matter of minutes, Fingers had spotted the truck Richards had taken and stopped so sharply Molly was amazed no one was injured. They'd all piled out of the truck, Charles barking orders at his men to cover them as they'd edged cautiously towards the white 4x4.

They both knew before they even got there that the car was going to be empty. The smoke billowing from under the bonnet meaning they wouldn't have been able to try and drive it out of there.

"Has anyone got eyes on Lane or Richards?" Charles asked.

"No boss." Came a chorus of replies.

The sound of a gunshot reverberated around the area. "Gun shot." Kingy called, Molly fought back the urge to point out that she had in fact got ears. Instead she turned and started heading in the direction it had come from.

Lane and Richards ran out into the middle of the road as they rounded the corner and Molly didn't think she'd ever been quite so relieved to see Georgie Lane in her life. "Are you both okay?" She asked as soon as she reached them. From the state of the car she'd been expecting at least one of them to be injured.

"They've got Sumon. They took him." Georgie told her frantically. "They took him."

"Okay." Molly said, trying to calm her down. She locked eyes with Charles for a second. "It's going to be okay, we'll get him back."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"Come in!" Molly yelled, hearing a knock on the door. She looked up as the door swung open and saw Georgie standing there. "Sorry, Captain James isn't here."

"It was actually you I was hoping to speak to?" Georgie said.

"Well, you'd better come in then." Molly tried to hide her surprise. "What is it Lane?"

"I'd like to be the one who tells Chowdhry about his son." Georgie blurted out.

Molly stared at her for a moment. "Excuse me?"

"I've got a relationship with them, I think it should come from someone he knows." Georgie explained.

Molly shook her head. "Absolutely not."

"But-"

"Lane." Molly cut her off. "As far as he's concerned, and probably Barsha, you're the one who allowed their child to get kidnapped when you should've been keeping him safe. Now I'm not saying you could've done anything different. But you're the last person he needs to be talking to though."

"You said we were going to get him back. Surely that means we work as a team?" Georgie countered.

Molly took a deep breath, trying to remind herself not to get annoyed. "Look Lane, I was trying to be a nice person and calm you down after what had happened- contrary to popular belief I'm not the monster everyone thinks I am. It doesn't mean I'm about to lose all my judgement. My team are working on getting the child back, you won't be getting involved unless you're given a direct order to."

"I really think you should let me do this." Georgie argued.

"Lane, I said no. Forget it and move on." Molly sighed. "Go on."

"Yes Ma'am." Georgie muttered.

* * *

For some reason, when he'd heard the knock on the door of his quarters he'd been expecting it to be Molly, and he found himself feeling almost disappointed when he pulled open the door and found Lane standing on the other side. "Is everything okay? Has something happened with Ruby?" He asked quickly. He couldn't really think of any other reason why she'd be stood there that late at night.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked, chewing on her lip nervously.

"Okay?" It came out sounding more like a question than an answer to her question. He stepped to the side to allow her in. "Should I be worried?"

She shook her head. "No, but it's just… with everything that happened today. I could've been killed."

He frowned. "You could, we all could've been. But you're safe."

She took a deep breath. "I know, but it just… It got me thinking."

His stomach flipped, he had a horrible feeling that he knew where this conversation was going and his first instinct was to try and avoid it, but he didn't have anywhere to go. "That sounds dangerous." He joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"You… you asked me if I could ever feel the same, and I do." She took a step forwards and her lips were on his before he had a chance to react.

He froze for a second, his hands going to her shoulders. How many times had he wished this would happen? Now it all just felt so wrong. "Lane." He said firmly, pushing her back. "No."

"Come on Charlie, we don't have to keep fighting this. I know I'll have to go and work with another section but this is our chance to be happy, this is what you wanted." She said softly, taking another step towards him.

"Stop, Georgie." He pleaded. "I thought I'd made this clear to you the other night." He shook his head.

She still didn't move away. "We both know you didn't mean that."

"Georgie, I did. I know this is my fault, I've said things and crossed so many lines. But we were both grieving, my marriage was falling apart and then I nearly died. Things got confused. You were the one who told me this couldn't happen in the first place. You knew it was wrong before I figured it out." He slowly removed his hand from her shoulder and took another big step backwards to put some more distance between them.

"But…. you said…"

"I know what I said, and I really am sorry." He sighed. "Is that the only reason you came to talk to me?"

She chewed on her lip. "I was actually coming to ask you if I could be the one to go and tell Chowdhry about his son. I know him and I'd like to apologise…. I just… I realised on the way over here that I'd never actually told you how I felt."

"You'll need to talk to Captain Dawes about that Lane, you know that the investigation isn't under my jurisdiction." He sighed.

"I did." She said quickly. "And she said it was up to you."

He was quiet for a moment.

"Please, Charlie." She said softly. "Can you not at least do this one thing for me, after everything?"

"I'll think about it." He said reluctantly. "Now go and get some sleep please Lane."

She lingered for just a second before turning to the door. "Goodnight Charlie." She said softly.

* * *

"You look like shit." Molly commented, watching as he fumbled around trying to make himself a coffee in the dim lighting. She couldn't quite manage to hide her smile as he jumped out of his skin.

He turned around to face her. "Jesus Christ. Is this a habit of yours or something, hiding in dark canteens?"

She laughed quietly. "I like it in here at this time of night, I can get some peace and quiet."

"Would it ruin your peace and quiet if I joined you?" He asked, already pulling out a chair to sit next to her.

"As long as you're not going to tell Spanner and Peanut where I am I'll let ya." She smiled.

"They driving you nuts?" He raised an eyebrow.

She shook her head. "No, you know what they're like, brilliant. I just need an hour or two not to think about how the hell we're going to get that little boy back."

He smiled sympathetically. "I can't say I envy you with that one, but you know we'll help if we can?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "Thanks, it's appreciated."

"Speaking of- Lane said about going up to tell Chowdhry about his kid tomorrow?" He mentioned.

Molly's head snapped up. "And when did she say this to you?"

"She cornered me in my quarters about five minutes ago." He grimaced.

"Unbelievable." Molly muttered. "She just came and asked me about fifteen minutes ago and I told her no."

"She told me you said she needed to ask me." He cringed as he told her, this wasn't going to go down well.

"You know, I was trying to be nice and give her a second chance." Molly sighed. "I mean she's lost a lot this year, with Elvis and everything. But now I feel a bit like I've been taken for a mug."

"Yeah, you and me both." He muttered under his breath.

Molly twisted in her chair so she was facing him, looking at him curiously. "What does that mean?"

He chewed on his lip for a moment, debating whether he should actually tell her before deciding he needed to tell _someone_ or it might just drive him insane. "When she came to see me earlier, she kissed me and told me she wanted us to be together." He admitted, whispering just in case anyone overheard them. "I told her that I thought things had got confused between us and it was a mistake and then she asked if I could at least do this one thing for her."

Molly was quiet for a moment, thinking. "And what? You're sure that you don't want to be with her now? Because as much as I hate to say this I can kinda see where she's coming from, you were the one that went after her in the first place."

He looked down at his coffee, unable to meet her eye. "I know, and I wish I could go back and undo it. I wasn't in a good place and I couldn't see that at the time. You've opened my eyes to that." _In more ways than one_ he added in his head.

"Well, as long as you've made that clear to her?" Molly asked, her expression softening.

He nodded. "I thought I had, several times."

Molly shrugged. "Well, you've done all you can do then."

"I wish I could feel like that." He sighed.

She reached out and squeezed his arm. "We're only human Charles, we all make mistakes. At least you realised before you did anything really stupid."

"Does that mean even the great Molly Dawes is a mere mortal like the rest of us?" He teased.

She gave him a small, tight smile. "I've made more mistakes than you'd believe."

"Bones?" He asked quietly, regretting it as soon as the words left his mouth.

She looked up at him. "We were just friends. I don't know how many more times I have to tell you, it was for about five minutes and we both knew it wasn't going to last. He was always checking out the nurses every chance he got and he knew I had a thing for-" She stopped dead.

"You had a thing for who?" He laughed. "Please tell me it wasn't Elvis?"

She shook her head, she could feel her cheeks burning. "No, it wasn't Elvis." She muttered.

"Then who?" He was running through a whole host of possibilities in his head but coming up empty. As far as he could remember she'd hated pretty much everyone except for Elvis and Bones.

She glanced down at her hand, which was still rested on his arm. "You." She breathed.

He searched desperately for some words in response to that. "You hated me." He blurted out.

She laughed quietly. "Yeah, I guess I did in the end."

"Wait a minute….. In the end?" He asked.

"You were a dick to me and Bones, that was part of what we bonded over." She shook her head. "You and that bloody stuck up cow of a wife."

Charles grimaced. "I was thinking the other day about that time she went around telling everyone how much your dress was…. I'm so sorry, I don't know why I didn't stop her."

Molly waved her hand dismissively. "I'm going to put it all down as character building. I'm not sure I'd be here now if you lot hadn't been quite so horrible to me in the first place, don't think I would've had it in me."

Well." Charles breathed. "Am I allowed to say that I'm really, really glad that you are here now?" He leaned forwards a fraction, going to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ears without thinking about it.

She was silent, her eyes locked with his for a moment. Then without thinking about it she leaned forwards and pressed her lips to his. How many times had she imagined that moment when she'd first met him? But now as she gained a kind of awareness about what she'd just done and the lines she'd just crossed she found herself pulling away from him and scrambling to her feet in a panic. "I'm sorry." She mumbled. "I'm really really sorry."

"Molly wait-" He called, but she was already long gone.

* * *

"Oh shit, sorry." Molly mumbled, running into Charles at full force as she came around the corner.

He put his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "Everything okay?" She quickly took a step back out of his reach.

"Yeah.. um… I've got to go up to the police station and tell Chowdhry about his kid. He doesn't know." She explained. She'd been awake most of the night, her brain alternating between worrying about how to tell Chowdhry and when she was going to run into Charles again after what had happened.

"You're going now?" He frowned.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I'm running late actually. I'm supposed to be picking Barsha up and taking her with me." She glanced at her watch.

"Are Spanner and Peanut going with you?"

She shook her head. "They're out following up on a lead we got. I can't wait until they get back, don't want him to find out from someone else before I get there." She was already starting to walk away from him.

"Give me five minutes and I'll come with you?" He suggested.

She stopped, shaking her head. "Thanks, but it's fine. You've got other things to worry about."

"I really don't think you should be going up there on your own."

She was already at the car, opening the door and he knew he wasn't going to win this argument. She was avoiding him, it was obvious to see."It's fine, thanks though."

"Be careful, please?" He called as she jumped in and closed the door.

It took him less than ten minutes after he'd watched her drive off to decide he'd made the wrong decision in letting her go on her own. He quickly found himself teling Kingy that he needed to go to the police station and setting off after her. She was probably going to kill him when he got there, but it was driving him nuts worrying about everything that could happen.

* * *

"What's happened?" Chowdhry asked the second he walked into the room.

Molly shifted uncomfortably, looking over at Barsha to see if she was going to say something.

"They've taken our boy!" Barsha snapped, getting to her feet and walking towards her husband. "That's what's happened. Look what you've done!" She walked back toward the window.

"But… What? They've taken him?" Chowdhry asked, looking back and forth between Molly and Barsha.

"There are people out searching for him." Molly said, feeling like she needed to say something.

Barsha spun around again. "It should've been you!" She shouted at her husband. "It was you they wanted!"

"We're waiting for the kidnappers to make contact." Molly explained.

Chowdhry looked thrown for a moment, watching his wife as she paced back and forth in front of the window. "What do they want?" He asked, turning to face Molly.

"You!" Barsha cut in before Molly could answer him.

"Well they can have me. Tell them to bring my son back and they can have me, please." He said quickly, walking towards Barsha. "Barsha please, forgive me."

She flinched away from him as he went to lay a hand on her shoulder. "No. I can't. Not until I get my son back."

"I'm going to retract my statement. If I don't say a word then they won't hurt him." Chowdhry said, turning back to Molly.

"He's right." Molly sighed. "The boy is their insurance to keep him quiet. I'll get Captain Daas and tell him you're retracting your statement." This was the exact opposite of what she'd wanted, without the information they'd got from Chowdhry the local police were going to have nothing to go off to arrest these people. But at the same time, she couldn't exactly say she blamed the man for wanting to keep his son safe.

* * *

He could see Molly through the window as he pulled into the car park at the police station and he was already starting to feel a bit stupid. He'd been trying, and failing, for most of the journey there to come up with a reason why he was there after she'd told him he didn't need to be.

He watched as a police vehicle pulled around in front the building, parking in front of the window and blocking his view through the window. He hesitated for a moment before deciding to get out and go and see if he could do anything, he'd come this far after all.

He'd taken two steps towards the entrance of the police station when there was a loud bang, the force of the explosion knocking him off his feet. He scrambled back to his feet, his ears ringing and realised in a moment of horror that the explosion had come from the police vehicle he'd seen parked in front of the window a couple of moments earlier.

He started running before his brain had caught up with his body. He ran into the smoke filled room just in time to see Chowdhry being dragged out by two police officers, screaming for his wife. He scanned the room for a second until he spotted Molly, face down on the floor underneath the remains of a table.

"Molly?" He knelt down beside her, pulling the debris off her. "Molly, it's Charles. Talk to me." His fingers went to her neck, relieved when he could find a pulse. "It's okay, you're going to be okay."

By the time two section had arrived the ambulance was also there, they'd quickly scooped Molly up on to a stretcher and were loading her into the back of the ambulance as Kingy approached him. "How is she?" Kingy asked.

"I…. I'm going to go with her." Charles said quickly. He wasn't really sure if he was making the right decision but he needed to know she was going to be okay. "Are you going to be okay to clear and secure the area."

"Of course Boss." Kingy agreed quickly, turning back to two section. "Right guys, fan out and secure the area."

* * *

There was a heart stopping moment at the hospital when the doctor called him through where he thought he was about to get some awful news. Instead there she was, sitting on the edge of the bed as though nothing had happened, except for the fact she was covered in dust and some bruises beginning to form on her face. "How are you doing?" He asked, perching on the edge of the bed opposite her.

"I'll be okay." She brushed him off. "What were you doing there?"

He hesitated for a moment. "I was worried about you being there on your own, with good cause apparently."

She sucked in a breath. "What happened?"

"I don't really know. There was a police vehicle that turned up and parked right outside the window just after I got there. I didn't really stop to look at what had happened but I think the explosion probably came from there." He explained.

"I probably should've seen that one coming." She grimaced. "Is everyone okay?"

"Just a few cuts and bruises." He nodded. "And what about you?"

"I'll live." She said quietly, her voice faltering as her eyes filled with tears. "I could've died."

He scooted over to sit beside her on the bed, putting his arm around her as her body started to shake with silent sobs. "But you didn't, you're okay." He said soothingly.

"Do you ever just… I don't know… wonder if it's even worth it sometimes?" She asked, her voice muffled against his chest as she leant against him.

"We've all wondered at times." He agreed. "If it was an easy job everyone would be doing it."

She laughed quietly, wiping at the tears. "You make a good point I suppose."

"I do." He smiled. "And I know you love your job, and you're bloody brilliant at it. You made one mistake, that's it. And I'm not even sure you can really blame yourself for what happened. How were you supposed to know one of the police officers was going to plant a bomb?"

"But I probably shouldn't have gone up there on my own either." She admitted, pulling away from him so she could look at him.

His arm stayed where it was, resting across her shoulders and for a moment he expected her to push him away but she didn't. "I'm assuming the reason you didn't want me to come with you was because of what happened last night?" He asked tentatively.

She looked down at her boots. "I really shouldn't have done that, I'm so sorry." She mumbled.

"You don't have to apologise." He said quietly. "Do you know why Rebecca always hated you so much?"

She turned to look at him. "Because I was a gobby cockney and she thought I was lowering the standards of the British Army?" She couldn't help but laugh as she repeated word for word what Rebecca had said to her at one point.

"Oh god, I'd forgotten about that. I really am sorry." He laughed.

"I'm not sure I can really blame you for something she said." Molly smiled. "That's not it then?"

He shook his head. "She always said I paid more attention to you than I did her, and the thing is she was probably right."

Molly rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure you relentlessly taking the piss out of me for everything I did was really the kind of attention she would've wanted."

Charles shook his head. "No, she would've hated it. But you always gave back as good as you got, it was one of the things I loved about you."

She tried not to let herself focus on the fact he'd just said that. She was only going to read too much into it and end up getting her heart broken. She tried to remind herself that a few months ago he'd been telling her he wanted to be with Georgie Lane. "Yeah well, someone had to keep all you rupert's in line." She joked.

He was quiet for a moment. "Do you ever…. Do you ever just sit and wonder how things might've worked out different if you'd made one different decision?"

She nodded straight away. "Literally all the time."

"The night we all went to that ball, you had that black dress on… the one Rebecca hated?"

"She hated everything I ever wore." Molly pointed out. "She just hated me."

"Okay, maybe." He agreed. "But still, this particular night we all went out and I had a massive row with Rebecca when we got home. She thought I was having an affair with you, said my eyes had been following you around the room all night, even though you and I were barely speaking by that point after everything with Bones. She said she was going to leave me and I ended up begging her to stay. I just wonder sometimes, like what might've happened if I'd just let her go… I mean I love Sam and obviously I'd never change that but…."

"Yeah. I get it." She said quietly.

"I think what I'm trying to say is that I don't want to fight now I feel anymore." He said quietly.

She stared at him for a moment, fighting an internal battle with herself. "Can we…. Can we just get this tour out of the way?" She said eventually.

His face fell slightly before he recovered it. "Yeah." He mumbled, looking away.

Her hand went to the side of his face, gently turning him back so he was looking at her again. "I'm not saying no." She said quietly. "I'm just saying that I can't be doing this now. I'm not going to put other people's lives at risk because I'm not one hundred percent focused on what I'm doing."

His hand came up to cup hers for a second. "I know, I understand…. Come on then, shall we get you back to barracks?"

She squeezed his hand gently, before letting go and getting to her feet. "Please, I need to shower and get rid of all this dust and shit."

"Let's go then, but promise me you'll humour me and at least take it easy for the rest of the day?"

"You know me Charles, I don't like to make promise I can't keep." She joked.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

True to form, the second they got back to barracks she was out of the car and making a beeline for the ops room to go and find Spanner and Peanut. "Look who it is." Spanner smiled as she walked in. "How're you doing?"

"I'll live." She waved dismissively as the bandage on her arm. "What have you got for me?"

"You sure you want to do this right now?" Peanut asked. "You did just get blown up, you're allowed to take a couple of hours off."

"That's exactly what I said." Charles commented from the doorway.

"Can I remind you that I'm in charge here?" She joked. "Where are you at?"

"Well, there's no forensics and the car was on false plates." Spanner explained.

"Of course." She sighed. "So what are you thinking?" Her head was pounding again and the last thing she wanted was to be trying to come up with a solution to this problem, but she felt like she had to- it was her job after all.

"Well, we've been thinking…. And we might have an idea." Peanut offered. "We've been out doing surveillance and we might have a location."

"Come on then, let's hear it." Molly breathed a sigh of relief. At least she could always rely on the two of them to engage their brains and help her out.

Peanut turned to look at Charles. "Captain James, I think you've got a soldier with family in Singpa?"

Charles looked baffled, turning to Molly. "You have, we checked." Spanner added. "We'll brief your guys at zero six hundred hours?"

"Okay." Charles nodded, realising that was his cue to leave. "I'll leave you guys to it then."

"Thanks." Molly called as he turned to leave.

* * *

It was hours later by the time she eventually left the ops room. She had to hand it to them, Spanner and Peanut had come up with a pretty solid plan considering what little they actually had to go on. Although now she just had that horrible feeling of anxiety in the pit of her stomach, just wanting to get it over and done with and have everyone back safely.

Maybe that was how she found herself standing outside Charles door on her way back to bed that night. She wasn't really sure, it was like her brain had completely disengaged up until the point where she'd been standing in front of his door. She'd already raised her hand a knocked before she'd even thought about what she was going to say to him.

She caught the look of surprise that crossed his face when he saw her standing there. "Hi." She whispered, suddenly feeling self conscious as she stood across from him. She hadn't thought any further in advance than actually knocking on his door.

"Come in." He took her hand and gently pulled her inside the dimly lit room, closing the door behind her. "Everything okay?" His hands stayed resting gently on her shoulders as they stood there.

She nodded chewing on her bottom lip nervously as she took a step closer to him, her fingers twisting automatically into the material of his shirt as his hands slid down to rest on her waist. They stood there for a moment, faces inches apart and their breath mingling, neither one of them saying a word until she moved the final couple of inches forwards and gently pressed her lips to his, the last bit of hesitation dissolving as she did so.

Her hands snaked around his neck, twisting into his hair for a moment before sliding back down to pull his top over his head, or at least try. She'd realised as she went to do it that she was far too short to manage it. He smiled as he raised his arms and pulled it off himself before wrapping his arms around her again. There was something about being there in his arms that was so comforting…

Before she knew what she was doing she was pulling her own top off over her head, discarding it on the floor somewhere with his. Her exposed back now pressed against the warm skin of his chest as he held her close, kissing his way down her neck as she leant against him. How they'd managed to get this far across the line she wasn't entirely sure, but she knew that she didn't care either.

He gently turned her to face him again, his hand coming to cradle her cheek. He didn't say anything but she could see his eyes searching hers, silently asking the question. She nodded ever so slightly, stretching up on her toes to press her lips to his again. He kissed her for a moment and then walked her slowly backwards towards the bed in the centre of the room.

* * *

It was only a couple of hours after he'd gone to sleep that he was dragging himself out of bed to go to the briefing with two section. He'd be lying if he said he regretted not getting more sleep, and a slow smile spread across his face at the thought.

"You can wipe that grin off your face." Molly laughed, slotting in beside him just before he reached the ops room. She handed him a mug of coffee, sipping at her own mug of tea.

"Thanks." He smiled.

"You ready for this?" She asked, that familiar feeling back in the pit of her stomach as she thought about what was to come. Her face was suddenly serious.

"I don't know, you never actually told me what the plan was." He teased in an attempt to lighten the mood a little.

"Best we get in there then so you can find out." She sighed, heading for the door with him just behind her.

"Right you lot!" She silenced the excited chatter from two section the second she walked in the room. "Shut it."

She walked up to the front of the room to stand beside the projector screen, Charles following her and coming to stand beside her. "Okay, so intelligence suggests that the child is being kept in one of seven locations. My team have been out doing some surveillance and each of the locations pose significant danger. Now, I'm not overly concerned about danger to us but obviously we need to get the child out safely or it defeats the object. The child's safety is key to Chowdhry's confession."

She looked at the serious faces of two section looking back at her, and flicked to the next image. "This is where we need to get the child to. It's part of a lemon grass plantation and we can then control the local area and use helicopters to extract."

"All the other locations are in built up areas." Spanner explained, taking a step forwards. "The aim is to make them feel like the other locations are compromised and they have no choice but to move the child to where we want him."

She changed the image on the screen. "Is that my uncle?" Rab asked, looking at her with confusion.

"Yeah, it is." She nodded.

"I've never actually met him but I've seen photos of him." Rab looked back and forth between her and Charles, not quite able to work out what was going on.

"Yeah well, trust me on this. It's your uncle." She told him quickly. "And he runs a small garment factory seventeen kilometers west of Singpa. Near the factory is a spice shop which is one of our seven possible target houses."

"You're going to pay your uncle a visit and scope out that spice shop for the kid." Peanut explained.

Rab looked absolutely horrified, all trace of the earlier excitement having left the room the second they started talking. "And if the child is there?" He asked nervously.

"You call it in." Molly said quickly. "I don't want any heroics, that goes for all of you." She glanced around the room at everyone and they nodded in agreement. She turned to Spanner and nodded at him to continue.

"Each of these locations pose a threat to life if we tried to extract the child." He explained, pointing them out on the map. "So the aim is to flush them out and get them to take the child to the lemongrass plantation. Until the child arrives at that plantation we do nothing."

"Any questions?" Molly asked.

"No Ma'am." Everyone answered quickly.

"Good, you're all dismissed." She nodded. "Lane, can I have a word please."

Georgie stayed exactly where she was, waiting as everyone else filtered out of the room. When the door closed Molly moved so she was standing across the table from her. "So Captain James told me that you went to ask him about going to see Chowdhry after I told you that you couldn't."

"I-" Georgie opened her mouth but nothing came out. "I'm sorry?" She offered eventually.

Molly sighed, leaning against the table. "I don't need an empty apology Lane. I need you to start doing your job and following orders so that I can actually trust you."

"I was doing what I thought was best." Georgie said.

"This is the problem, you keep saying this like it justifies what you've done but at the end of the day you're here to follow orders." Molly told her. "I've tried being firm, I've tried being nice and so has Captain James. I can appreciate that you've been through a lot but there aren't an infinite number of second chances to give you- sooner or later someone's going to get hurt."

Georgie stared at her, her eyes wide and Molly couldn't help but wonder if the weight of what she was saying had finally sunk in.

"One chance Lane, and I really do mean it- mainly because it's a bit late to try and get a replacement at this stage…. And I feel like I owe it to Elvis to try and help you." Molly said quietly. "But I'm going home once this is done, and I will tell the brig if I have to. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am." Georgie nodded, her voice faltering as she blinked back tears.

* * *

The atmosphere was tense as she stood in the ops room with Charles, waiting to hear something either from Rab or Spanner and Peanut. She'd alternated between pacing back and forth in the small room and staring at the maps hanging on the wall, part of her still terrified that she might've missed something somewhere along the line.

"They'll be okay, I've got faith in Kalil and Richards." Charles said eventually, breaking the silence.

She spun around to look at him, leaning against the table in the centre of the room. "It's not that I don't think they can do it." She apologised quickly. "I just really wish they didn't have to."

He nodded. "I know."

She looked at him for a long moment, the radio crackling into life before she could say anything. "Delta fire team to Oscar One." Peanut said. "4x4 has pulled up at location D. No eyes on. Bugging device in place, confirm child present. I say again, child present."

She couldn't help but smile, maybe the plan wasn't so hopeless after all. "Roger that, stay in position." She answered.

"Now what?" Charles asked.

She pointed at the map spread out on the table in front of him. "Now we compromise the other locations and wait for the boy to be moved. But we can go and get Kalil and Richards."

"Let's go then!" He smiled.

* * *

"Did you know about that?" Molly asked as Charles drove them round into the village.

"Know about what?" He asked, glancing over at her.

"I'll take that as a no then." She laughed, pointing to the left of them where Richards was stood, her arms wrapped around Kalil as she kissed him.

"Oh bloody hell." He laughed. He was happy for them, but it just added another thing that he was going to have to sort out, another soldier that was going to have to leave. "Wait, what are you-" He was too late to realise she was going for the megaphone.

"Private Kalil." Her voice boomed out of the speaker. She nearly wet herself laughing, as did Charles, as Kalil and Richards sprung apart looking horrified. "Private Kalil, make your way to the vehicle now."

Kalil and Richards climbed into the back of the truck, Charles struggling to suppress his laughter. "Having a nice time you two?" He asked.

"Yes… No… Sorry Boss." Kalil mumbled.

"Sorry, was the megaphone a bit too much? I couldn't help myself." Molly laughed.

Richards and Kalil stared at her as though she'd grown another head.

"Right then, you're going on a observation mission." Molly said, turning her attention back to Rab. "You're meeting a local agent who'll pose as your supervisor. Richards, you're going back to barracks." She watched as Rab's face fell, suddenly serious again.

"Delta fire team to Oscar One." Peanut's voice came through the radio again. "Movement. Photos to follow. Confirm, target is on the move."

"Roger that." She said into the radio, turning to Charles. "Come on then, let's get this moving."

* * *

There was a hive of activity by the time they'd got back to barracks, everyone standing in the ops room awaiting their instructions. "Okay, local authorities are currently compromising all of the other locations including the spice shop so they'll have no option other than to take the child to the lemongrass plantation." She explained. "So from Chowdhry's initial statement we already had names that were already significant with Bangladeshi Special Forces." She looked over at Charles, nodding at him to continue.

"Chowdhry got involved with the importing of yabba from Myanmar. He was recruited to receive the drugs smuggled across the border by corrupt officials. His intentions were to use the money to support the refugee camp, a sort of Robin Hood if you like. When he realised he was into deep and tried to get out the people who were making money through him weren't happy, hence the bomb." Charles explained.

Molly flicked to the next screen. "Chowdhry would deliver the drugs to this man, Begun… He took them to this man, Hassan. They'd then go to this man, Majeeb. Chowdhry thinks that he is the boss." She paused, looking around at the serious faces of two section looking back at her. "We're also interested in this man, Babu Aktar who's a local dignitary. He controls most of the drugs coming into this area, his brother control Dakhar. He's a rich man, supposedly because of his plantation but in reality the lemongrass is the perfect cover for the transportation of the drugs around the country. I want to make sure none of you underestimate the kind of people we're dealing with here, they wouldn't think twice about killing the whole lot of us."

"Yes Ma'am." They answered quietly.

She glanced over at Charles before she continued. "Once the child arrives at the plantation we will extract in our fireteams. Lane, you'll be going with Delta in the helicopter as you know the child. Oscar and Bravo will be on the ground along with local forces to secure the house as a crime scene. There'll be a vehicle in to collect us, emergency extraction is by the river. Canoes have been placed along the river bank at the locations marked on the map."

"Any questions?" Charles asked as she finished, looking around the room.

"No Boss." They answered.

"Good." He nodded. "Go and get ready then."

They all filled out of the room, the silence the only thing that gave away the nerves they were all feeling. When they were alone again he turned to Molly. "You sure you're going to be okay with all this?"

She pulled a face at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He took a step closer, his hand resting on her arm. "It means you were caught up in an explosion yesterday and I'm pretty sure you should be resting somewhere not about to go on a rescue mission."

She rested her hand on top of his for a moment, looking up at him for a moment. "I appreciate it and everything, but I'm fine. Let's just get this child back and get out of here, yeah?"

He nodded. "Okay, but you'll let me know if you're not okay?"

She nodded. "Promise. Now, if you're done we probably ought to go and get ready?"

He rolled his eyes. "Excuse me for trying to be a nice person and show you I care." He joked.

She smiled back at him, heading for the door. "I know you care, but the sooner this is all over the sooner we'll be home and then maybe we can finish that conversation we had last night…"

"I'd like that." He smiled as they walked out of the door side by side.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

It was a tense wait once they were in position at the plantation, everyone checking and double checking their gear as they waited for their instructions. "How're you feeling Ruby?" Molly asked, crouching down beside him. He looked a hell of a lot better than the last time she'd seen him, but she'd still been surprised to see him there.

"Buzzing." He smiled. "First action."

"We could do without any action." Charles muttered. "I'd quite like everyone out of here in one piece." He got up and walked over to the other side of the room.

Molly smiled at Ruby. "That's what we all want. Has anyone got any questions?" She asked, looking around at everyone. They all shook their heads. "Good."

She got up and walked over to where Charles was standing. "You okay?" She asked, her voice hushed. No one else was paying any attention to them, except for Lane who quickly averted her eyes as Molly made eye contact with her.

"Yes." He said quietly.

"You sure?" She raised an eyebrow, leaning against the wall beside him so their arms were brushing each other.

"I just want everyone home safe." He sighed, hesitating for a moment.. "Promise me you'll be careful on this one….. come back to me?"

She'd been going to make a joke but the seriousness of his expression made her realise this wasn't the time or place. "I will." She nodded. "You too though?"

"Promise." He nodded.

"Boss. Eight hundred meters north, moped approaching." Monk called, putting an abrupt end to their conversation as Molly jogged over to the crack in the wall he was watching from.

"This is Zero, please confirm that's you approaching from the North?" She said into her radio, putting a reassuring hand on Monk's shoulder as he crouched with his finger by the trigger of his weapon- ready just in case it wasn't.

"Oscar one confirming. It is I approaching, like Lawrence of fucking Arabia." Spanner replied.

It broke the tension in the room for a moment, a couple of people laughing out loud at his comment. "Roger that." She smiled, patting Monk on the shoulder and turning back to Charles. "Good job boys."

"Whoever's phone that is maybe you'd like to turn it off?" She suggested as she heard a ping.

"Sorry." Monk mumbled, fishing it out of his pocket. "Oh my god." He turned the screen around to show Brains who was sat beside him.

"No way!" Brains grinned.

Molly leant forward to see what was going on. "Yours?" She asked, seeing the picture of the tiny baby on the screen. He nodded, grinning. "Congratulations!" She smiled.

"It's all I've ever really wanted." He grinned back at her.

"Well, I hate to be the party pooper here but we've still got a job to do." She reminded him gently.

"Of course, sorry." He said quickly, shoving his phone back in his pocket.

"But…" She smiled. "As soon as this is over and done with I'll see what we can do about getting you straight home instead of decompression, I'm sure Captain James won't mind."

Monk looked hopefully at Charles who smiled. "Not at all." He nodded.

"Thank you both." Monk grinned, turning his attention back to the road he'd been watching.

The door to the shed they were in slid open, Spanner wheeling his moped inside and unwrapping the scarf from his face. "Alright Boss?" He asked.

"Glad you could join us, _Lawrence_." She laughed. "Just waiting for confirmation the child is inside and then we move."

"Charlie One to Zero." Rab's voice came through quietly in their ears. "Confirm, confirm. The child is now in the target building."

"All call signs on me." Molly instructed. "Delta initiate. Medics standing by. All fire teams, diversionary on the windows. Helicopter on standby two minutes away. Let's move guys." She nodded, pulling on her helmet.

* * *

The trip into the walls of the plantation in the back of the ambulance Peanut was driving on the pretense of picking up Kalil was nerve wracking. If they didn't manage to pull this bit off then the whole thing was over before it had even started. She edged out of the vehicle with Spanner right behind her, disappearing into the building and up the staircase straight away, just as they'd planned. They reached the first guard at the top of the stairs, Spanner running past her and managing to take him down silently without alerting any of the others.

One down and at least another six to go.

"Launch phase one." She whispered into the radio. She nodded to Spanner and they carried on moving forwards, Spanner taking down a second guard as they rounded the corner.

She laid the charge on the window beside them, praying that two section had already got theirs into position. "Initiate phase two." She instructed.

The force of the explosions rocked the building, the gunshots below them reverberating off the walls as Rab and Peanut took out the two guards that they'd been distracting.

Spanner took down the door, she followed him inside trying to work out where she was going through the thick smoke that filled the room. She shot at the two men in there as they went to aim at her, Spanner running around the corner and shouting back that the room was clear.

"All call signs on me. Man down." Charles shouted into the radio.

"Shit." She hissed, turning and running down the flight of stairs to reach them with Spanner close behind her.

Fingers and Richards were on the floor as she ran in, Lane in the middle of the two of them. "What happened?" Molly asked, crouching down beside Fingers.

"Some sort of explosion when they opened the door." Someone answered behind her.

"Fingers, Fingers look at me." She said, leaning over him. He nodded, gasping for breath. "It's okay, you're okay. You're just winded. Take a couple of deep breaths for me, that's it. How about you Richards?"

"I'm okay." Richards gasped.

"Okay, Lane stay with them." Molly ordered, getting to her feet. "Spanner with me."

They quickly moved forwards to the door coming off the room they were in to clear that, Spanner counting down silently before he ripped the door open.

On the other side of it was their worst nightmare. There was a man stood holding the child in front of him like a shield, a gun pointed at her and Spanner and screaming at them to get back. Molly was vaguely aware of a commotion in the room behind them but she didn't take her eyes off the man or the child.

It was a split second decision to take the shot, but it was the only chance she was going to get. Time seemed to stand still as she pulled the trigger, then there was the horrifying moment where the man's body twisted as he fell, leaving the child trapped underneath him. She rushed forwards, rolling his body off the child and finally allowing herself to take a breath as she realised the child was absolutely fine. She was vaguely aware of Spanner yelling for Lane as she picked him up and walked back out into the room.

"He's fine, he's fine." She reassured, handing him off to Lane. "Out to the helicopter with Spanner and Peanut, now." She ordered, the noise of the helicopter approaching a welcome sound.

For once in her life Georgie didn't argue, turning and following Spanner and Peanut out with Sumon in her arms.

"Okay, how are we doing. All okay?" Molly asked, turning her attention back to Fingers and Richards who were back on their feet.

"All good Boss." Fingers nodded.

"Good." Molly smiled. "Let's get the area secured and hand over to local police then." The noise of the helicopter faded into the background as it moved away.

"I'll call it in." Charles said quickly.

They'd moved outside on to the balcony, waiting for the local police to turn up when the call came from Spanner. "Boss, you've got company headed your way. Approaching fast. Four trucks, they look like they're heavily armed."

Everyone froze and turned to look at her for some kind of instruction. Charles stepped forward. "Right, get down you lot." He barked, pulling out his binoculars to have a look. He passed them to Molly so she could see too, glancing over at her.

She gestured to him, walking a few steps away from the rest of two section so that they were out of earshot. "There's at least twenty of them. We could try and hold defensive positions here but I'm not confident that we'll be able to."

"They've got RPG's." He finished her train of thought for her.

"Exactly." She nodded. "Even if they come back in the helicopter they're not going to get to us in time now and they can't take everyone."

"Head for the canoes?" He suggested.

"My thoughts exactly." She nodded.

He turned back to two section. "Right, we're heading out the back, through the thicket and to the canoes as discussed earlier." He ordered. "Hopefully they'll think that we all left in the helicopter."

"Right, move." Molly ordered, sending Kingy off in front and waving at the rest of Two Section to follow him.

She could hear shots flying around behind them as they vaulted over the wall at the back of the compound and into the thicket that would lead them down to the river. The theory that they might've thought they'd all left in the helicopter was obviously wrong, so all they could do now was hope they made it to the river and out of site before the drug runners caught them up.

"Keep moving." Charles yelled, the sounds of the gunshots getting ever closer behind them. 'Woah, woah." Everyone skidded to a stop behind him as they reached the edge of the river.

Molly pushed her way through to the front to see what was going on and why they'd stopped. As she reached Charles it became apparent why they'd stopped. They'd reached the river bank but it was a good ten foot drop down to where the canoes were sitting. Off to the right she could see a path, which was obviously where they should've come out to get to them but she couldn't see how they were supposed to get to that part and they were running out of time.

"What do we do now?" Charles asked. He was thinking the same thing as her from the looks of his face, they didn't have time to go searching for another route.

She hesitated for a second. "We jump."

He nodded. "You sure about this?"

"No, because I haven't got a clue how deep that water is or what's underneath it but I don't see what else we can do? Who made thefucking stupid decision to put the canoes here in the first place?"

"Okay. I trust your judgement." He nodded. "Monk, Brains, you go first." He instructed, turning back to two section.

The two of them stepped forwards, looking over the edge. Brains dropped his backpack over the edge and then sat down, his legs hanging over. Monk had gone white as a sheet. "I can't… I've got a kid… I can't just…" He mumbled.

Molly stepped forwards and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, you've got this."

Charles nodded, taking Monk's backpack off him and dropping it into the water below. "Come on, you'll be back home with that baby of yours this time tomorrow."

"That's it, down you go. Nice and quickly." Molly encouraged as the two of them jumped.

There was a heart stopping moment before they heard the splash as the two of them hit the water. "It's okay!" Brains shouted back up and her and Charles both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, come on then. Quickly." Charles instructed, sending the rest of them down. Him and Molly slid down last and jumped into the back of the canoes.

She jumped into the back of the canoe behind Fingers, turning around to look back at the river bank with her finger by the trigger of her weapon ready. "Faster." She urged, she could see figures moving through the undergrowth above the river as the drug runners approached. They were far enough away from them now that they'd be a difficult target to shoot at but it wasn't impossible.

"Come on guys, quick as you can." Charles encouraged, glancing back over his shoulder in the direction Molly was looking. The drug runners had made it as far as the top of the river bank and he could see their weapons raised and pointed in the direction of two section. He'd got no idea how accurate their shots were, he was praying not very because they were sitting ducks out there in the canoes if they started shooting at them.

"Can you just confirm there's a vehicle to pick us up at the extraction point down the river?" Molly asked Charles, her sights still firmly on the people on the river bank. She was vaguely aware of him speaking into his radio but didn't really take in what was being said. The gunshots that started flying around distracting her attention somewhat.

"Okay, another five hundred meters down here on the left. There is a vehicle waiting for us." He called to two section, trying to keep his voice calm. "Keep moving."

As they rounded the corner, meaning they were out of sight of the drug runners she exchanged a look of relief with Charles. They'd been bloody lucky, and they knew it.

* * *

Charles had sent everyone off to shower and get some food when they got back, they'd have their debrief later. It was a wise decision, given the fact that they'd had to wade through the last hundred meters of stagnant water to get out of the other side. Molly had been dreaming about having a shower and changing her clothes ever since she'd set foot in the water.

In a fresh pair of combats and a clean shirt she headed for her office to make some calls about getting Monk home to see his baby as soon as possible.

She was on the phone when Charles walked in, she flashed him a smile and he came and perched on the edge of her desk as she she finished up on the phone. "All sorted, Monk is flying back to Cyprus with us and then straight home."

"You big softie." He teased.

"Me? I'm hard as nails mate." She laughed, jabbing his arm playfully.

"Wait- you said with us? Does that mean you're coming with us?" He raised an eyebrow.

She nodded. "You're stuck with us for a bit longer I'm afraid." She grinned, getting to her feet. "Although if you'll excuse me I've got to go and do a debrief because this stupid captain has insisted on it…."

He smiled back, standing up. "Less of the stupid please." He laughed.

She didn't move, standing there just a little bit too close to him, her fingers edging towards his until they were interlaced. "I'm really glad I had you with me today."

"Me too." He smiled. "So when you said we had to wait until this tour was over… did that include decompression as well or-"

She leant forward and kissed him to shut him up. "I think once this debrief is over will do." She smiled.

"In that case, let's go and get this bloody thing over with!" He said, pulling her towards the door.

* * *

Two section were gathered in the ops room waiting for the debrief. "I can't believe you missed all the action Lane!" Fingers laughed as they stood there.

"It was mental." Brains agreed. "That Captain Dawes is like superwoman. I mean did you see that shot she took?"

"Yeah, no wonder the boss is so keen to keep her close." Fingers winked. "I would be too."

Georgie rolled her eyes. "She's only doing her job."

"Nah." Monk shook his head. "She was brilliant. And she's getting me out of decompression too!"

"Boss seems happy as well, I think it's sweet." Richard's added.

"Right then you lot!" They all stopped talking as Charles and Molly walked in and came to stand in front of them. "As you were."

"I just want to say I'm really proud of how you all handled yourselves today, it was a difficult mission and I'm really impressed with the way all of you handled it. It's been a pleasure working with you all." Molly smiled.

"I'd like to echo what Captain Dawes said." Charles continued. "You all excelled yourselves today, the child his back with his mother and we've done serious damage to the drugs network in the region as well."

Molly cleared her throat. "And I know Bones would've been really, really proud of you all."

There was a moment of silence in the room. "We're headed to Cyprus for decompression first thing tomorrow. Special forces will be joining us for decompression."

"Monk, I've sorted it out so you're flying to Cyprus with us and then immediately home from there." Molly added.

"Sweet. Thank you so much." Monk grinned.

"You can name the baby in my honour as a thank you if you like." Molly joked. "Now clear off the lot of you."

"Go on guys." Charles nodded. "Get some rest."

"I'm going to go and get a cuppa, do you want one?" Molly asked him as two section filed out of the room.

"Please." Charles nodded. As they both turned around they realised Georgie was still standing there.

"Can I have a word quickly please Captain James?" Georgie asked.

Molly lingered for a moment, unsure of whether to leave them. "I'll catch you up." Charles said to her, waiting for her to leave before he turned back Georgie. "Everything okay Lane?"

She nodded. "I'd like to go back to the UK with Monk please and skip decompression."

"And why is that exactly?" He asked.

"Do I need a reason?" She asked.

"Yes, quite frankly." He frowned. "Unless there's some kind of special circumstances then you're coming with the rest of us."

Georgie opened her mouth and then closed it again. "Maybe I don't want to spend a week listening about Saint Molly Dawes." She muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?" Charles demanded, glaring at her.

"I-" She stuttered, she hadn't thought he'd heard her.

"I heard what you said Lane and I'd suggest you don't say anything more. Go and pack your kit away, you're coming with the rest of us and it's not up for discussion." He ordered.

"But-"

"Now Lane." He said sharply, already heading for the door himself.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

There was an atmosphere of quiet excitement on the plane that became louder and louder as they got nearer to Cyprus. Charles had told them all to shut up several times and Molly had ended up hiding her smile behind the collar of her jumper so he wouldn't see her laughing at him. It turned out he was far less tolerant after he'd been crammed in the back of a plane with them all for a few hours. Not that she could say she blamed him, she couldn't wait to get off the plane and have a couple of hours peace and quiet.

Nothing he could've said would have calmed them down once they touched down in Cyprus. The mixture of excitement of being almost home coupled with the fact they had to say goodbye to Monk, who was waiting for his flight back to the UK, meant the excitement spilled over as they piled onto the bus to their accomodation.

Molly slid into the seats right at the back with Spanner and Peanut, watching in a mix of despair and amusement and Charles attempted to regain some kind of order to get everyone on the bus so they could get going. He gave up in the end and admitted defeat, realising they were never going to get anywhere if he didn't. They were all on the bus at least and he'd have to settle for that.

Two section hadn't calmed themselves down by the time they got to their destination either, but they had at least dispersed as they went off to find their rooms and Molly was left with a few moments of peace and quiet as she collected the key for her room and set off to find it.

"Molly." She stopped at the sound of her name behind her, turning around to see Charles jogging down the corridor to catch up with her.

"Sorry, I was miles away." She smiled, starting to walk again as he reached her. She paused, glancing at the stairs and trying to work out which way to go.

"I think I'm upstairs too, a long way away from two section I hope." He grumbled.

She laughed. "They're excited, it's nice."

"I'm just glad it's all over with and we're heading back to civilisation for a bit…. Well kind of anyway…"

"Kind of?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to have to face my parents and Rebecca." He grimaced. "And I'm not sure which one of those is worse."

She stopped outside her room as they reached the top of the stairs, pointing to the door. "This is me."

He stopped too, lingering for a moment. "Do you want to get a drink later?" He looked nervous, as though there was some part of him that was doubting she'd say yes.

She hesitated for a moment, looking at him. "Maybe… Can I let you know later?"

He nodded. "Is everything okay? You've been really quiet." He'd been half expecting her to get up and wrestle two section into submission on the bus earlier, but instead she'd sat there quietly and watched.

She chewed on her lip for a moment. "I said I'd walk up to the cliffs with Spanner and Peanut, said we'd have a drink and a bit of a send off for Bones."

He reached out and squeezed her arm. "You should, go and spend time with your team. We've got plenty of time to have a drink."

"Thanks." She mumbled. "I should get going though or we aren't going to get up there before it gets dark."

"Go on." He nodded in the direction of her door. "I'll see you later."

She stretched up onto her toes, kissing him quickly before she turned and unlocked her door. "I'll see you later."

"See you later." He echoed softly, lingering for a moment as the door closed behind her before he went off in search of his own room.

* * *

They'd walked up to the spot at the top of the cliffs in almost silence, the three of them each lost in their own thoughts. It felt weird, because the last time they'd been there they'd been a team of four. She could still see him now, sitting at the top of the cliff with his beer in his hand grumbling about something stupid the brig had said to him. She'd told him to shut up at the time, that he was ruining her peace and quiet. She'd do anything to have him back now- even if it meant she had to listen to his constant stream of complaints and swearing.

The three of them sat down when they reached the top, on the same group of rocks they had done last year. Peanut reached into his backpack and fished them a beer each out, opening them and then passing them around. They sat in silence for a moment, sipping at their beers but eventually Molly felt like she had to say something.

She cleared her throat, looking back and forth between Spanner and Peanut. "I just wanted to say, it's been so lovely working with you both… Knowing that you've both had my back through all of this… well I don't even know how to put it in to words. I know Bones would've been really proud of you both, and he might not have said it very often but he was. We'll all miss him, more than I think any of us thought we would've done when he was being a pain in the ass…." She laughed quietly, how many times had she told him if he didn't stop she was going to shoot him herself? She raised her beer and looked back at Spanner and Peanut. "To Bones." She offered, the tears she'd been trying so hard to blink back breaking free and rolling down her face..

"To Bones." They echoed quietly.

Spanner got up. " Ah...C'mere." He mumbled, hugging her tightly. "Don't tell anyone mind you, don't want them thinking I've gone soft."

She smiled against his shoulder in spite of herself, wrapping her arms around him for a long moment before he released her. "Thank you." She said softly, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

"You know." Peanut said quietly. "I think he'd have been pretty proud of you filling his boots like that too boss."

It was quiet again as they sipped at their drinks, nothing but the sound of the waves lapping at the bottom of the cliff. The sun slowly dipped behind the clouds, the sky turning pink and orange as they sat and watched.

"Can I ask you something?" Spanner said, breaking the silence. Molly nodded and a slow smile spread over his face. "You and Captain James?"

Molly felt her cheeks flush, the question had taken her by surprise. "What about me and Captain James?" She asked, trying to feign innocence.

Peanut laughed. "You're a rubbish liar, we've been stuck in the back of a plane for hours watching you two make eyes at each other…. We're happy for you boss!"

She laughed, shaking her head. She wasn't even sure why she'd been trying to hide it in the first place. "Thanks." She mumbled.

"We've known him a really long time, he's a great guy." Spanner nodded. "It's about time you were both happy."

"Steady on there you too." She shook her head at them. "Early days and all that. Besides, I think I've known him longer than you!"

Spanner and Peanut both rolled their eyes. "Whatever you say Boss… we'd better get you back though, wouldn't want to keep you from him." Peanut teased.

"Zip it you two." She tried to suppress her laughter. "I'm still your boss, I might have to take a leaf out of Bones book if you don't stop."

"You haven't got time, you're too busy with Captain James." Spanner quipped, ducking out of reach as she took a swing at him playfully.

* * *

Two section were sitting around the fire, drinking and chatting when they got back. "Don't even think about getting that bloody guitar out." Peanut muttered at Spanner as they walked in.

"Here you are boss, hope we didn't keep her too long." Spanner winked, as they slid into their seats and Molly sat down next to Charles.

"Zip it you two." Molly glared at them both, Charles laughed quietly.

"Everything okay?" Charles asked, his voice low in her ear.

She nodded. "What have you lot been up to?"

He glanced over, making sure no one was listening and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Well, I had to talk to Lane about the fact I'm putting her transfer through."

"How'd that go down?" She asked, glancing at Georgie who was sitting at the other end staring at the ground.

"Like a lead balloon." He sighed. "It's the right thing to do though?"

"Definitely." Molly agreed. "I've been getting the spanish inquisition from Spanner and Peanut about me and you."

Charles raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

She nodded, laughing quietly. "They're happy for us apparently. They like you."

"Well, all I've been hearing from two section is how amazing you were so I think you've added a few people to the fan base this tour." He joked.

"Just doing my job." She rolled her eyes, jabbing him in the ribs playfully.

"Oh don't worry, I set them all straight. Can't having you getting too big headed can we." He smirked.

She was about to say something when she saw Georgie get up and walk away out of the corner of her eye. "I'll be back in a minute." She said, getting up quickly.

Charles quickly cottoned on to what she was doing. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Molly nodded, ducking out and jogging to catch up with Georgie who had stopped, leaning against the railings looking out over the beach. "Hi." Molly said quietly, leaning beside her.

"What do you want?" Georgie sighed, not looking at her.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay?"

Georgie snorted, rolling her eyes. "Like you care."

"Look." Molly sighed. "We've got off on the wrong foot here and I know it's as much my fault as yours. I'm not the easiest person to get on with, but a lot of my frustration is from the fact you'd be a bloody good soldier if you'd actually engage your brain and listen."

"Whatever." Georgie sighed.

"I'm really trying here Georgie." Molly sighed in exasperation. "I could forgive most of the stuff you've done, I've probably done worse. It's the not following orders bit that bothers me- not because I'm on some kind of power trip or something, it's for your own safety. The rules are there for a reason Lane and if you don't follow orders you follow chaos- Bones used to say that all the bloody time"

"I liked Bones." Georgie said quietly.

Molly nodded. "I know… and I know for a fact that he wouldn't have let you get away with any of this, and given some time he probably would've set you straight. Your head isn't in the right place, we all get that you're fragged after what happened with Elvis. It's okay not to be okay. I know all this stuff with Cha- Captain James hasn't helped either."

"Maybe he's right. Maybe I do need a fresh start." Georgie said slowly.

Molly smiled, nodding in encouragement. "I think you need to do something, and probably talk to someone. Get yourself sorted… for Elvis."

Georgie's lip trembled, her eyes full of tears as she looked at Molly. "Is it too late to say I'm sorry?"

Molly shook her head, putting an arm around her. "No, it's not." She said softly. "But, how about we go and have a beer and see what them lot are up to? I think we should be celebrating what we managed to pull off on this tour, not sitting over here crying."

Georgie nodded, wiping roughly at her face before getting to her feet and following Molly back over to the others.

* * *

They'd been sat there for hours before she realised quite how tired she was. Spanner had got hold of a guitar from somewhere and started to sing, getting louder and louder the more Peanut protested. She'd finally allowed herself to relax as she sat next to Charles, chatting to him and the rest of two section. Georgie had blended back in with everyone else and nothing else was said about their conversation earlier.

As she tried to suppress another yawn she realised it was probably time to call it a night. "I think it might be time for bed." She said quietly, Charles nodded in agreement.

"I'll walk back with you." He said quietly. "I'm sure these lot would be happier without me here to cramp their style."

Molly laughed, standing up. "Right you lot, I'm calling it a night. See you all in the morning."

"Don't do anything stupid." Charles said, his face stern as he looked around at them all. "Fingers, don't think I won't find out what you get up to. It's decompression, not an excuse to run riot."

"What you picking on me for Boss?" Fingers cried, pretending to be offended.

"Night you lot!" Molly laughed, turning to walk away.

"I don't even want to think about what they're going to get up to tonight." He groaned as he walked back towards the building with Molly.

Her hand slid into his as they turned the corner. "Don't think about it… They deserve to have a break and let their hair down. I'll deal with them in the morning if I have too."

"I might hold you to that." He joked.

"We can come to an arrangement… I'm sure you can make it worth my while." She raised an eyebrow at him as they headed up the stairs.

They paused outside her room for a moment, a look of indecision crossing his face. "I'm sure we can come up with something." He mumbled, pressing his lips against hers.

"Have I ever told you how amazing you are?" She said quietly, pulling away to look at him for a moment.

"Ditto." He smirked as she turned around to unlock the door of her room.

"Ditto? Bleedin' ditto is all I get." She folded her arms as she stood in the doorway, pretending to be upset. "I'm not sure if I'm going to let you in after that." She joked.

"Oh come on." He grinned. "I'll make it up to you, promise." His lips met hers again, guiding her backwards through the doorway as he pushed the door closed behind them.

* * *

 _The End!_

 _Just wanted to quickly say thank you to everyone who's read this- I've really loved writing this one and I really hope you've enjoyed reading it too- Let me know what you thought?_

 _Thanks again!_

 _Bex xx_


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